'There's a lot to cringe at here - from low pay and physically exhausting work to constant insecurity. 'People who thought the 2008 financial collapse was over a long time ago need to meet the people Jessica Bruder got to know in this scorching, beautifully written, vivid, disturbing (and occasionally wryly funny) book.' - Rebecca Solnit, author of A Paradise Built in Hell

'Tracing individuals throughout their journeys from coast to coast, Bruder conveys the phenomenon's human element, making this sociological study intimate, personal, and entertaining, even as the author critiques the economic factors behind the trend.' - Publishers Weekly A must-read that is simultaneously hopeless and uplifting and certainly unforgettable.' - Library Journal Engaging, highly relevant immersion journalism.' - Kirkus Though very little about Bruder's excellent journalistic account offers hope for the future, an ersatz hope radiates from within Nomadland: that hard work and persistence will lead to more stable situations. Like Linda May, who dreams of finding land on which to build her own sustainable 'Earthship' home, they have not given up hope. At the same time, she celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of these quintessential Americans who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive. Accompanying Linda May and others from campground toilet cleaning to warehouse product scanning to desert reunions, then moving on to the dangerous work of beet harvesting, Bruder tells a compelling, eye-opening tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy - one that foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. In a secondhand vehicle she christens 'Van Halen,' Bruder hits the road to get to know her subjects more intimately. On frequently traveled routes between seasonal jobs, Jessica Bruder meets people from all walks of life: a former professor, a McDonald's vice president, a minister, a college administrator, and a motorcycle cop, among many others - including her irrepressible protagonist, a onetime cocktail waitress, Home Depot clerk, and general contractor named Linda May. From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon's CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans.įinding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads: migrant laborers who call themselves 'workampers.'

Jessica bruder nomadland