title: A Working Stiff's Manifesto: Confessions of a Wage Slave
author:  Iain Levison 
description: Levison is a "modern-day Tom Joad" who, over the last decade, has worked 42 jobs in six different states, including mover, fish cutter, cook, caterer and cable TV thief. He recalls those jobs in this entertaining, unusual mix of autobiography and social commentary reminiscent of Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Levison imagines himself a new breed of itinerant laborer a college graduate with a $40,000 English degree. His America is a desperate and brutal country, a place where you're hired with a promise of insurance after 90 days, then fired on the 89th; where criminals beat each other to a pulp in Alaska fisheries, and truckers make fraudulent entries in their logbooks in order to keep up with impossible schedules. But Levison's droll sense of humor eases him (and his readers) through the tough times; he recalls catering a party and bleeding into the guests' Merlot, expounds on the definition of "r sum " ("the French term for 'page full of bullshit' ") and proposes a new motto for Dutch Harbor, Alaska ("What fatal flaw in your character made you wind up here?"). As both a writer and an employee, Levison can come off as a trifle obnoxious some of his workplace misfortune he definitely brings on himself and he's mercilessly scornful of the corporate yes-men and unscrupulous characters he works with. Yet his moral vision more than makes up for it; he's a sharp-eyed, impassioned critic of the American workplace. (Apr.) Forecast: Although any book that targets itself toward people without a steady paycheck would seem to be doomed, Levison's just might do well, given today's high unemployment rates and the book's undeniable originality. <br />Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  # One of Life's Slaves
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Jonas Lauritz Idemil Lie
  
  
  This page formatted 2005 Munsey's.
  
  
  http://www.munseys.com
  
  PREFACE.
  
  
  CHAPTER I. NEGLECTED RESPONSIBILITIES
  
  
  CHAPTER II. A STRICT DISCIPLINARIAN
  
  
  CHAPTER III. A FIGHT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
  
  
  CHAPTER IV. A STOLEN INTERVIEW
  
  
  CHAPTER V. AMONG THE UNEMPLOYED
  
  
  CHAPTER VI. THE FACTORY GIRLS
  
  
  CHAPTER VII. “THE WORLD IS RIGHT ENOUGH AFTER ALL”
  
  
  
  
  
  CHAPTER VIII. AN UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL
  
  
  CHAPTER IX. AN IMPORTANT STEP TAKEN
  
  
  CHAPTER X. A RISE IN LIFE
  
  
  CHAPTER XI. THE WEDDING POSTPONED AGAIN
  
  
  CHAPTER XII. THE FAIR AND THE CONVICT
  
  
  
  
  
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      Translated by Jessie Muir
  
  
  
  
      
  
  E-text prepared by Clare Boothby, Jim Wiborg, and the
  
  
  Online Distributed Proofreading Team
  
  
  ONE OF LIFE'S SLAVES
  
  
  by
  
  
  JONAS LIE
  
  
  Author of “The Visionary,” etc. etc.
  
  
  Translated from the Norwegian by Jessie Muir
  
  
  London Hodder Brothers 13 New Bridge Street, D.C. Printed by
  
  
  Ball