Jessica Bruder

(13) This a a journalist's account of the phenomena of living in a van or an RV driving around the country off the grid and accepting short term jobs like working in an Amazon warehouse or being a camp host in national forests and campgrounds. Making just enough to survive, buy groceries, do repairs on your vehicle, etc. Apparently there is a growing class of people that should be retirees but that couldn't scrape together enough to retire on after eking out a middle class living. It is show more depressing as hell. Many of these people are smart and resourceful and there is a whole underground of leaders, you-tubers, unofficial gatherings, etc. The author follows one 66 yo woman, Linda, in particular. Somebody's sweet grandmother forced to live in a tiny RV parked in Walmart parking lots. Her dream is to build some sort of a biosphere out in the dessert, self-sustaining - needing nothing she can't get from the Earth and a bit of elbow grease. I dunno...

I thought the author did an excellent job depicting these individuals - according them the dignity they deserve, but also pointing out some hard truths. Many of them really are just eating a shit sandwich and pretending to like it. Interestingly, they are almost all white people and she muses carefully and eloquently about why this might be. I loved the quote from the satirical website - "Things that White People Do" - hilarious; what most black people call their worst nightmare, white people call "camping." The bootstraps American in me blamed the victims - these people must have made some very poor choices to end up in this situation. And the author doesn't outright deny that. These people lost jobs, had health problems like 'headaches,' "bad investments," "bad divorces," alcoholism - The author states these things in a non-judgmental way but still... There was no one who just decided to do it -- just for fun. Even the author herself would apply for these seasonal gigs just to see what they were like and then quit them after a few weeks. They were decidedly not fun. I also liked that the author did not bring these peoples politics into the book. It was refreshing to not have to read about a backdrop of political partisanship; it didn't matter.

Anyway, intriguing, well written. I have both empathy and a desire to blame the victims which to me says that this struck a chord with me. How close are any of us to being in a situation like this this? Or what would I do in a situation like this? I would never find myself in a situation like this. Right? Right?.... show less

Journalist Jessica Bruder writes about subcultures. In 2014 for an article in Harper's Magazine, Bruder profiled Linda May, a retired woman who lives in a camper, traveling the U.S. and taking seasonal jobs with campgrounds, an Amazon warehouse, and the like, and was introduced to a whole bunch of "workampers" who do the same. After a couple of years of interviews, and living temporarily in an RV of her own while working at an Amazon warehouse and beet factory, Bruder presented this book show more showing these folks in all their complexity.

If I had one takeaway from this book, it's that workampers are not a one-size-fits-all monolith. There are many reasons they would take to the road, from financial necessity to a desire for freedom from the rat race - or some combination of the two. They are hard-working, often debt-free, often what we'd picture as "retirement age", and mostly white. And while it's hard to pin down an exact number, there were about 300,000 when the book was published (2017), a number that seems to be growing. I found it fascinating, sometimes heartbreaking, thought-provoking - all the qualities you'd want in a book club choice. Highly recommended. show less

This is the best proof for the disintegrating States. The U.S. is the economically most powerful country just because it is so incredibly unjust and unequal. I can relate to the fact that people feel so left out and behind by the affluent part of the population. It's like different countries within the same territory. Except for patriotism there isn't much to glue everything together, and even that is dwindling. In fact it's surprising to see how fervently people who have nothing to thank show more their country for cling to this notion of greatness that they aren't part of. I wonder what happens if all this energy finds a negative outlet. show less

“In America, if you don’t have an address, you’re not a real person.”

This book is copyrighted 2017, and things have only gotten worse.
In my town, Novato, CA, there have been a long string of RVs along Airport Road for a few years now. And a homeless encampment around our public library. I myself am a letter carrier for the United States Postal Service, but my salary in this county (Marin County) qualifies me as low income. At one time, a mail carrier could own a home in this country show more and support a family on his/her lone income. Not anymore... "This is not a wage gap - it's a chasm."

This book details the shame of the United States, its people being unable to afford housing. "Nomads", "houseless", or folks living in "wheel estate" because they can't afford a “stick-and-brick” home, or even the rent. They have to decide what they can pay for - food or dental work, mortgage or electricity, rent or student loan, warm clothes or gas to get to work? "When do impossible choices start to tear people - a society - apart?" Can’t get a raise? Live in your vehicle... You can be a workamper, “...modern mobile travelers who take temporary jobs around the U.S. in exchange for a free campsite...”! Fun, huh? Like “Grapes of Wrath” fun! But instead of picking fruit, a lot of these poor folks end up picking packages in Amazon warehouses. Which sounds tough too - “If I can do the Army, I can do Amazon.” And Amazon “reaps federal tax credits” for hiring them! SMH.

Interesting how white privilege is part of this. Of course it is. Another, even worse, shame of the United States.

I want to go to Quartzsite.

“These mobile shelters are everywhere - an invisible city, hidden in plain sight.” show less