{"product_id":"gig-isbn-9780609807071","title":"Gig","description":"\u003cb\u003e“An engaging, humorous, revealing, and refreshingly   human look at the bizarre, life-threatening, and delightfully humdrum exploits of   everyone from sports heroes to sex workers.” \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of \u003ci\u003eCoercion\u003c\/i\u003e,   \u003ci\u003eEcstasy Club\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMedia Virus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis wide-ranging  survey of the American economy at the turn of the  millennium is stunning, surprising, and always entertaining. It gives us an  unflinching view of the fabric of this  country from the point of view of  the people who keep it all moving. The more than 120 roughly textured monologues that make up \u003ci\u003eGig\u003c\/i\u003e beautifully capture the voices of our fast-paced and diverse economy.  The selections demonstrate how much our world has changed--and stayed  the same--in the three decades prior to the turn of the millennium. If you think things have speeded  up, become more complicated and more technological, you're right.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut people's attitudes about their jobs, their hopes and goals and  disappointments, endure. \u003ci\u003eGig's\u003c\/i\u003e soul isn't sociological--it's emotional. The wholehearted diligence  that people bring to their work is deeply, inexplicably moving. People  speak in these pages of the constant and complex stresses nearly all of  them confront on the job, but, nearly universally, they throw themselves  without reservation into coping with them. Instead of resisting work,  we seem to adapt to it. Some of us love our jobs, some of us don't, but  almost all of us are not quite sure what we would do without one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith all the hallmarks of another classic on this subject, \u003ci\u003eGig\u003c\/i\u003e is a fabulous read, filled with indelible voices from coast to coast.  After hearing them, you'll never again feel quite the same about how we  work.“Amazing . . . a gem of a book that uses only the strength of the human  voice to   tell an American story -- sometimes dark, always  fascinating.”\u003cbr\u003e -- \u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The   accounts are  wonderfully revealing, with gritty and almost shockingly honest detail.    For all their variety, they weave a cohesive, passion-filled story of  what people   bring to their work. It's an addictive read.”\u003cbr\u003e -- Harvard Business Review's Best Business   Books of 2000\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Keen, disturbing, and deeply felt . . . the stories in Gig deliver   a  more rousing political wallop than those in Working . . . remarkable  and strangely   moving.” \u003cbr\u003e -- Susan Faludi, \u003ci\u003eThe Village Voice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I love this book! It's surprising   and entertaining and makes the world seem like a bigger and more interesting place.   \u003ci\u003eGig\u003c\/i\u003e manages to document everyday life and give pure narrative pleasure at  the same   time. One feels proud to live in the same country as the  people in this book.” \u003cbr\u003e --   Ira Glass, host of This American Life\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A fascinating compilation of what the American   workforce has to say about itself.” \u003cbr\u003e -- George Plimpton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Eye-opening . . . more   revealing than any theories a sociologist could concoct.” \u003cbr\u003e -- \u003ci\u003eThe Industry Standard\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Entertaining, sobering, validating . . . Ordinary people discuss their jobs with   extraordinary candor.” \u003cbr\u003e -- \u003ci\u003eUS Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “In the age of advanced spin, this book accomplishes   a very rare  thing. It actually lets workers speak for themselves. . . . The result    makes for a fascinating read.” \u003cbr\u003e -- Andrew Ross, director, American Studies Program   at New York University\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Emotional and eye-opening, each compelling description offers    insight about the job itself and, more important, an intimate view of a  single human   life.” \u003cbr\u003e -- \u003ci\u003eAustin Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “An engaging, humorous, revealing, and refreshingly   human look at  the bizarre, life-threatening, and delightfully humdrum exploits of    everyone from sports heroes to sex workers.” \u003cbr\u003e -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of \u003ci\u003eCoercion\u003c\/i\u003e,   \u003ci\u003eEcstasy Club\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMedia Virus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Bowe\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eNobodies\u003c\/i\u003e and the co-editor of \u003ci\u003eUs: Americans Talk About Love\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs\u003c\/i\u003e. His work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ethe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e GQ\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMcSweeny's\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMarisa Bowe\u003c\/b\u003e, co-editor of \u003ci\u003eUs: Americans Talk About Love\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs\u003c\/i\u003e, is a writer and web and video producer. Her work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, the\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHarper's\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eVogue\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. She was editor-in-cheif of \u003ci\u003eWord\u003c\/i\u003e until 2000. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSabin Streeter\u003c\/b\u003e is the co-editor of \u003ci\u003eGig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs\u003c\/i\u003e and contributing editor of \u003ci\u003eUs: Americans Talk About Love\u003c\/i\u003e. An independent writer and filmmaker, his work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHarper's\u003c\/i\u003e, among others.Neal Smither\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I'm the President and owner of Crime Scene Cleaners. We clean up death   scenes, like homicides. You know, the room where someone gets murdered. We also handle   suicides, accidental deaths, meth labs, things like that. A lot of people have the   assumption that police take care of the cleanup after a crime. That's not true. It's   never been true. If Johnny or Sally gets shot in your house, or your store, and there's   brains everywhere, it's your problem. You have to do the cleaning. It's not the police's   responsibility at all. You clean it. Or else you call my company or one of my competitors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The idea to start this business came to me six years ago. I was twenty-five years   old. I'd just been laid off from my job as division manager at a mortgage banking   firm. And there I was, wallowing for weeks in my unemployment misery, when one day,   bam! I was watching the movie Pulp Fiction. And you know that scene where they blew   the guy away in the back of the car and then had to bring in Harvey Keitel to clean   the whole thing up? Well I saw that scene and I thought, wow, that's intriguing.   Are there people out there doing this kind of job in real life? And I did some research   and found out that that the answer was yes. But there were only a few companies,   and they weren't marketing themselves to a broad based range of clients. They weren't   selling effectively. Well, I knew I could sell, I just didn't know if I could do   that kind of cleaning. So I made some phone calls. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I called every janitorial company,   anyone who had anything to do with cleaning. I made literally thousands of calls.   I'm a neat freak, typically, but I didn't know how professional companies carried   out their work. So I took a job with Merry Maids for a couple of weeks. Merry Maids   is a residential cleaning company, sort of the McDonalds of maids, really cheap,   really shitty. But working there taught me a lot about technique. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Then, next, I   started contacting coroners and police, because they were going to be my target audience.   I was gonna give them a percentage to give me business referrals. You know, so like   somebody dies, the cops show up, they're like, Hey, we know a guy who'll clean this   up. They send me the business, they get a cut of my fee. Good idea, right? No. Wrong.   Because what I found out is that they're not allowed to give out referrals, due to   liability. They can't give one, they have to offer a list of cleaning companies,   so there's no issue of favoritism. That was a bit discouraging, but whatever, I was   into it by then. I just changed gears and I started targeting the people at mortuaries.   They can give referrals.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e My first job came on referral from a mortician. The victim's   sister hired us. It was a lady down in Marina Bay area of Richmond. She had terminal   cancer and she'd blown her brains out -- shot herself in the head with a .357. Experience-wise,   it wasn't too messy -- just enough to cut my teeth and kind of get an indicator of   whether I could do this. And I learned I was capable of doing it. And when the cleanup   was done and I named my price, the client started cutting a check without any hesitation   whatsoever. I knew immediately that this work was for me. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Of course, back then,   I was totally inept. My partner and I -- I used my wife as my partner on that job   -- we were there for three hours and I only charged two hundred and fifty dollars.   Now, I'd be there an hour and we'd charge five seventy-five. So I've learned. I've   learned so much.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e My second job was so hardcore -- I'll never forget it. When I think   of how little I knew, doing a job like that, it just makes me laugh. It was at a   fairly upscale condominium complex in Oakland. A hugely fat guy had died on his hide-a-bed.   Weeks, weeks and weeks had gone by and no one had discovered him. He was a loner.   No one knew he was dead until they smelled it outside and by that time, it was atrocious.   My assistant and I -- this time it was my sister -- opened the door and this ungodly   smell just slammed us, big time. We hadn't learned about wearing respirators yet.   We hadn't a clue. Well, the whole bottom of this guy's bed was encased in plastic   from the manufacturer, and the plastic had trapped all these fluids. So I was moving   the bed around, and it started stirring up these juices. And when I tip the bed over,   not realizing what's going on inside of it, this rushing torrent of maggot-filled   liquid spews out all over the place -- all over the carpet and all over my clothing.   I vomited several times. My sister started gagging uncontrollably until she just   couldn't take it anymore. So she ran out the door, and jumped over the deck, right   into the pool! That one still rates as the worst decomp we've ever done. And we knew   so little about equipment, disposal techniques, the whole thing.","brand":"Crown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301359603941,"sku":"NP9780609807071","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780609807071.jpg?v=1767728121","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/gig-isbn-9780609807071","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}