'I worked in a white area on the West Side-briefly. The night goes faster.' ( Frances Swenson, hotel switchboard operator) Book Three īook Three has stories by a sanitation truck driver, a garbage man, a washroom attendant, a factory mechanic, a domestic worker, a janitor, a doorman, two policemen, an industrial investigator, a photographer, and a film critic. If you work nights and it's real quiet, I don't think there's an operator who hasn't listened in on calls. I worked for Illinois Bell, and I don't care who the operator is, the greatest thing is listening on phone calls. 'I never listen in on a phone conversation, but I'll tell you what. The more you squeeze it, the more they cry out.' ( Roberto Acuna, farm worker) Book Two īook Two features narratives from a receptionist, a hotel switchboard operator, a telephone operator, a professor of communications, an airline stewardess, an airline reservationist, a model, an executive secretary, a sex worker, a writer/producer, a copy chief, two actors, a press agent, an installment dealer, and a telephone solicitor.

That's the worst thing, the way they treat you. But the growers don't recognize us as persons. It's hard, but if you're given regular hours, better pay, decent housing, unemployment and medical compensation, pension plans-we have a very relaxed way of living. 'Working in the fields is not in itself a degrading job. Some books have only one theme (the theme of Book One is 'Working the Land') others have several.īook One contains stories by three newspaper delivery boys, a farmer, a farm worker, a farm woman, a deep miner and his wife, a strip miner, and a heavy equipment operator. These books tie their diverse content together with themes. The narrative moves through mundane details, emotional truths, and existential questioning.įollowing a preface, a foreword, and an introduction, the volume is divided into nine 'books,' each of which contains one or more subsections that provide several accounts of working people's jobs and lives.

It is an exploration of what makes work meaningful for people in all walks of life, from Lovin' Al the parking valet, Dolores the waitress, the fireman, to the business executive. The book also reflects Terkel's general idea that work can be difficult but still provides meaning for workers.

Working investigates the meaning of work for different people under different circumstances, showing it can vary in importance. Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do is a 1974 nonfiction book by the oral historian and radio broadcaster Studs Terkel.

Working stud terkel