Nomadland

surviving America in the twenty-first century

This book might be part of the Thorndike Press Large Print lifestyles series.
(2 reviews)

From the North Dakota beet fields to California's National Forest campgrounds to Amazon's Texas CamperForce program, employers have discovered a new low-cost labor pool: transient older Americans. With Social security coming up short, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands, forming a growing community of migrant laborers dubbed "workampers." In a secondhand vehicle christened "Van Halen," Bruder hits the road to tell an eye-opening tale of the American economy's dark underbelly. -- Page 4 of cover.

461 pages

English language

Published Jan. 18, 2018

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OCLC Number:
1002419151

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Subjects
  • Recreational vehicle living
  • Retirement
  • Working poor
  • Van life
  • Large type books
  • Older people
  • Casual labor
  • Employment
  • Retirees
  • Migrant labor

Reviews

reviewed Nomadland by Jessica Bruder

Well Written and Breezy, But Overpromises

I enjoyed the prose here, and Bruder clearly has affection for her subjects, but I feel like this book overpromised about saying something important about America and the economy, but was really just a look at a pretty small subculture.

I was struck by how small the subculture this book covered was. It's hard to say it's reflective of a larger trend when it seems to be just a few thousand people in the nation.

One thing that struck me here were that this is a very pre-pandemic book. The economy and society has changed a lot in the few years since it was written, and I'd enjoy a followup about how they made it through.

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