Bait and Switch

The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream

By: Barbara Ehrenreich

Narrated by: Anne Twomey

The bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed goes back undercover to do for America's ailing middle class what she did for the working poor.

Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed explored the lives of low-wage workers. Now, in BAIT AND SWITCH, she enters another hidden realm of the economy—the world of the white-collar unemployed. Armed with a plausible resume of a professional "in transition," attempts to land a "middle class job" undergoing career coaching and personality testing, then begins trawling a series of EST-like "boot camps," job fairs, "networking events," and evangelical job-search "ministries." She gets an "image makeover" to prepare her for the corporate world and works hard to project the "winning attitude" recommended for a successful job search. She is proselytized, scammed, lectured and, again and again, rejected.

BAIT AND SWITCH highlights the people who've done everything right—gotten college degrees, developed marketable skills, and built up impressive resumes—yet have become repeatedly vulnerable to financial disaster and not simply due to the vagaries of the business cycle. Today's ultra-lean corporations take pride in shedding their "surplus" employees—plunging them, for months or years at a stretch, into the twilight zone of white-collar unemployment, where job-searching becomes a full-time job in itself. As Ehrenreich discovers, there are few social supports for the new disposable workers—and little security even for those who have jobs.

Like the now classic Nickel and Dimed, BAIT AND SWITCH is alternately hilarious and tragic, a searing expose of economic cruelty where we least expect it.

©2005 Barbara Ehrenreich; (P)2005 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

<p>“We have Barbara Ehrenreich to thank for bringing us the news of America's working poor so clearly and directly, and conveying with it a deep moral outrage...She is our premier reporter of the underside of capitalism.” —<i>Dorothy Gallagher, The New York Times Book Review on Nickel and Dimed</i><br><br>“Jarring, full of riveting grit...This book is already unforgettable.” —<i>Newsweek on Nickel and Dimed</i><br><br>“Courageous...a superb and frightening look into the lives of hard-working Americans.” —<i>San Francisco Chronicle on Nickel and Dimed</i></p>

Compelling and depressing expose.

Ehrenreich deftly examines the state of white collar employment in America. Eye-opening proof that the middle class in this country is in big trouble, and white collar workers are definitely not exempt.

Long Slog with Pleasant Ending

Although the author admits to having little experience with applying to a 'corporate' position, her naivete regarding this pursuit becomes almost unbearable near the middle of the book.
Lost in the quagmire of coaching and image consultants, she seems to lose touch with the essence of what makes unemployment an interesting topic of study.
If you can hold on that long, her conclusions are interesting, yet do not contain the depth I would expect from an individual who makes her 'real' living from observation and interpretation.

Only good for entertainment value

I enjoy Ehrenreich's writing--she's sarcastic, funny, makes many insightful observations--but if you're looking for Nickel and Dimed, this isn't it. The former, was actually eye-opening when I read it 12 or so years ago. This book is not.

Many of the reviewers (who actually wrote more than a couple of lines) point out the deep deficits in this book. If Joe Blow off the street submitted this as a book proposal, it wouldn't be accepted because the premise is faulty. A middle-aged person trying to get into the corporate world with no experience there and an inflated resume...well, it just isn't going to happen the way she goes about it.

She totally harshed on the Meyers Briggs (even though she just speeded through it without looking at the questions). I took that when I was 17. It was a revelation. After feeling like a circus freak all my life, I discovered my personality type was only 1% of the population. And it DID describe me well, and it DIDN'T change over the subsequent decades. (The author pretty much claims it will change each time you take it depending on mood, years in between taking, etc.). Although the other test she discussed did seem rather...odd.

We're always taking these tests in corporate America. If nothing else, they may help us understand ourselves better and at least open our minds to the fact that others operate differently than we might.

The book is from...2004? 2005? Things have only gotten worse since then so I did find it interesting that she had identified how bad things were BEFORE they really went to hel* in a handbasket. But most of the things she does to try to get a job are pretty absurd. Granted, she could not call on her friends to actually try to get her a real job, which...back to faulty premise, because the first step is always to check with friends and former co-workers to try to get a foot in the door.

She spends most of the book with people who aren't going to do her any good (other than to help her get her resume in order).

Still, well-written and enjoyable.

Worthy Successor to

This was the most engaging and enlightening audiobook I've heard in a very long time, and I listen to plenty. It's thoroughly thought out and beautifully written. More important, it's a startling reality check, and a much-needed antidote to the toxic fantasies of the inspiration industry. If you're one of white-collar unemployed, it's not necessarily your fault, and if you can't find a job right away, that doesn't mean there's something wrong with your soul. Ms. Ehrenreich's last chapter is a good beginning for thought on what might be wrong with the system, and what might be done about it. I can't recommend this too strongly.

An Eye Opener

This book will open your eyes to a part of America that many of us in the middle class don't see or choose to ignore. It has made me much more appreciative of hotel maids and others who do the really tough jobs. I now make it a point to smile and offer a kind word that will hopefully help them through the day.