Hidden America: From Coal Miners To Cowboys, An Extraordinary Exploration Of The Unseen People Who Make This Country Work (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
A collection of essays, most originally published in GQ or Smithsonian, that explore the "hidden" lives and jobs that keep America running. These include coal miners, landfill workers, air traffic controllers, migrant laborers picking berries, cattle ranchers, a long distance trucker, and workers on an oil rig. Two other chapters on major league football cheerleaders and gun salesmen didn't entirely seem to match the theme but enlighten about their subjects nonetheless. My favorite chapters were the ones on coal miners, air traffic controllers, and landfill operators - all jobs I rarely if ever think about but the people doing them really keep the nation running. Coal miners literally by providing much of our power, landfill workers by keeping us from being covered in our own trash. Air traffic controllers are no less vital to modern life, in a different way, and their chapter was very enlightening. I loved getting little peeks into the everyday work lives of people that are rarely considered and completely unglamorous. I particularly liked a thread that ran through a bunch of chapters: all these people wanted to be in their unglamorous, unwanted, unsavory jobs, they weren't forced to do them or stuck there with no good path out to the good life, they continued to choose the path they were on (much to Laskas' disbelief). Additionally, their coworkers are what made the workplace for them, becoming a second family - shown especially well with the coal miners and air traffic controllers.There was only one chapter I didn't especially care for - the one on Sputter the long distance trucker, which read more like a personal essay about Laskas making a friend than a real exploration of representative life as a trucker. I would've been more interested in a different field or even a more usual trucker - Sputter seemed unique and they discussed her boyfriend more than the job. I also felt like Laskas put a lot of herself into these essays - she didn't let the people speak for themselves preferring to paraphrase and discuss her reactions/opinions more than anything else. We read this for the nonfiction bookclub I facilitate and it went over pretty well, though it was hard to stay on task. Lots of varied chapters to discuss, and I'd recommend it for bookclubs. Great mini-biographies and conversations with people that keep the country running "behind the scenes." From isolated oil rig operators in Alaska, to truck operators in Los Angeles's garbage dump, to coal miners, day laborers in California, and La Guardia's air traffic controllers -- each story is personal and fun. After you finish, you can't help but think of all the "invisible people" that keep your daily life work.
What do You think about Hidden America: From Coal Miners To Cowboys, An Extraordinary Exploration Of The Unseen People Who Make This Country Work (2012)?
I found the stories very interesting, but I don't know how much I cared for the style of writing.
—mlsuncar
This may be the most fascinating book I've read in years!
—neddy
Just okay. Strange choice of people with no follow up
—joescomputers
