Working in the Shadows: A year of doing the jobs (most) Americans won’t

Author Gabriel Thompson spent 2 months working at each of 3 jobs that are generally held by immigrants: in the lettuce fields in Arizona, in a poultry processing plant in Alabama, and as a bicycle delivery person for a Manhattan restaurant.

The first obstacle he had to overcome was getting hired. Employers seemed confused that a young white man would, for no apparent reason, want to work in any of these positions. Thompson toils, mostly alongside Hispanic immigrants, in some of the most grueling, physically demanding jobs around. Pay is low, benefits are nonexistent, and supervisors often demanding and unfair. Workers are stuck doing whatever they can in order to survive; there are no options. Yet these jobs are the very backbone of the American food industry and touch on the everyday life of each of us.

What Thompson points out in his book is the dangers of unregulated work places, where employers can treat their laborers however they like–workers have no recourse and are easily replaceable. Whether those employees are undocumented immigrants or U.S. citizens, the problem remains. What also struck me was that the many problems with factory farms, as expounded in Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals, is underlined in Thompson’s book as well.

The break room is mostly empty, but I notice Ben sitting alone in a corner booth. We’re both struck by how disorganized everything seems to be. Like me, Ben has been hired for one department (debone), transferred to another (DSI), and then relocated once more, with unclear instructions along the way. He doesn’t even know the name of the department that he’s in. “Whatever it is, they have me standing and watching chickens go by.”

“That’s it?” I ask. “Are you suppposed to do anything?”

“Uh, I think like maybe they said to look for mold.”

“Mold? The chickens have mold?”

“Not yet anyway. I haven’t seen any. I’m looking for green stuff.”

“And if they have mold, what do you do?”

“I dunno.” Ben pushes his sliding glasses up, beginning to look concerned. “I hope that’s what I heard. I’m pretty sure somebody said something about mold.” He looks at his watch and stands up. “I gotta go.”

–cary

Man In The Woods

Sometimes a single moment in our lives– a loss of control, a blinding passion, a second when that part of ourselves we hadn’t known existed erupts in violence–changes not only the course of our lives but our whole perception of ourselves and the world. Paul Phillips has such a moment one day in the woods, when he attacks a man who is beating a dog; now his life will never be the same.

Paul is a good and decent man. He lives with Kate Ellis and her daughter Ruby. Kate is a recovering alcoholic who has used her experiences in overcoming her addiction to write a book, “Praying Well With Others”, which has become a blockbuster inspirational title; meanwhile, daughter Ruby is increasingly showing signs of mental disorder. The murder of the man in the woods casts an ominous shadow on the lives of this loving family as they wait, not knowing whether Paul will be discovered–and Paul wondering if he should turn himself in.

Author Scott Spencer is a wonderful writer, with multi-faceted characters whose sincerity and introspection are refreshing. Questions of guilt and punishment, good and evil, faith and religion abound; Spencer’s characters ask the questions but leave it to the reader to find the answers– if there are answers.

In this, her religious forties, she has sometimes agonized over why people of advanced intelligence often do not believe there is a supreme being, why it is they, and not the high-school dropouts, who are the ones to insist that logic and all the available proof show that religion is a compendium of rumors and fables and outright bullshit strung together by committees of ancient sun-baked men deprived of all scientific knowledge. Kate has sometimes despaired that the average intelligence in the nation of nonbelievers is drastically higher than the intelligence in the devout community; surely a convention of atheists would be able to run intellectual circles around the membership of most churches. Yet if Christ and his message are real, then the dumbbells win and the chrome domes lose.

Man in the Woods is a downloadable ebook on our North Texas Libraries on the Go site, and can be read on your computer, mobile device, or e-reader, including the Nook and Kindle.

–cary

Eating Animals

Jonathan Safran Foer is one of my favorite authors. I loved his other two books, Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. By the way, please read the latter book first if you’re planning to see the coming movie. The movie has not gotten great reviews but I was very impressed with the book!

Eating Animals begins with Foer talking about family culture and food. Food, and especially meat, is so ingrained in our traditions and customs that is seems almost sacriligeous–and certainly un-American–to not eat meat. The book is his journey to come to a philosophical, political and moral stance on meat eating, both as an ethical matter and as a matter of ecology–the health of the planet and everyone on it.

Foer’s research is extensive, including visiting factory farms (at times in the dead of the night , as they are not usually open to visitors) as well as visiting the increasingly hard to find traditional farmers and ranchers. The list of disturbing findings is very long, but, to mention only a few, Foer found that tha vast majority of animals bred for consumption were genetically malformed, routinely fed antibiotics, kept in cramped, unsanitary conditions, abused, degraded and cruelly slaughtered. Why should this concern us? Apart from the horrors of these animals’ lives, factory farming is a major contributor to global warming and pandemic disease.

I’ve been a vegetarian for most of my life–a personal decision that I haven’t tried to force on others (although after reading this, my family may be on their own for buying and cooking meat!) I do think, however, that it’s important for people to know exactly where their food comes from, how it gets to their plates, and what impact this will ultimately have on their lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren.  Eating Animals is not a pleasant book, but one that anyone who eats should read in order to make informed decisions about what they consume and serve to their families.

“The worst it got was near the end. A lot of people died right at the end, and I didn’t know if I could make it another day. A farmer, a Russian, God bless him, he saw my condition, and he went into his house and came out with a piece of meat for me.”

“He saved your life.”

“I didn’t eat it.”

“You didn’t eat it?”

“It was pork, I wouldn’t eat pork.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“What, because it wasn’t kosher?”

“Of course.”

“But not even to save your life?”

“If nothing matters, there’s nothing to save.”

–cary

The Litigators

Everyone loves John Grisham. For one thing, it’s fascinating to see how the legal system works–or doesn’t work–in this country. The bad guys, whether they are sleazy lawyers, corporate bigwigs or corrupt politicians, usually get their due. In The Litigators, a couple of ambulance chasers and their associate who has gone AWOL from a large, prosperous and demanding law firm, are way over their heads in a lawsuit against a huge pharmaceutical company. 

The law firm of Finley & Figg resides on a busy intersection, where the sound of an automobile accident sends the staff running out to the street to drum up business. When Wally Figg hears about potential problems with the cholesterol medication, Krayoxx, he jumps at the chance to sign up Krayoxx victims  and their families for what he believes is everyone’s chance at the big money. As you might expect, it’s a lot harder than any of Finley & Figg’s attorneys envisioned to fight  a drug giant successfully.

Grisham has fun with his lawyers in this novel, both the quirky, incompetent, seat-of-their-pants type like F & F, and the polished,  confident, overworked $500 an hour type. He also pokes a bit of fun at expert witnesses, federal judges, and clients who dream of getting something for nothing.

The two lawyers were sitting in the car talking, as if they did not want to get out. Only a couple of FBI agents in black suits and a black sedan could have been more conspicuous.

“So, why are we here?” David asked.

“Krayoxxx, my friend, Krayoxx. I want to talk to Iris and see if by chance Percy had been on the drug when he died. If so, then voilà! We have another Krayoxx case, worth somewhere between two and four mill. Any more questions?”

Oh, dozens of questions. David’s mind was spinning as he realized they were abou to cold-call Ms. Klopeck to inquire about her dead husband.

–cary

Guilt by Association

Prosecutor Rachel Knight is pretty shaken when her friend and close associate Jake is found dead in a seedy motel with an unfortunate young man, seemingly a murder-suicide situation. Rachel is warned off getting involved in the case by her superiors, so she and her detective friend Bailey have to do a lot of sneaking around to find out what was really going on. Meanwhile, she’s put on one of Jake’s old cases, the rape of a prominent physician’s daughter in her home. As she delves deeper into both cases and into the seedy side of L.A., Rachel fears not only for her job, but also for her life.

Author Marcia Clark–yes, the Marcia Clark of O.J. Simpson fame–obviously has a lot of experience dealing with criminals. Her first novel, however, is actually a light and droll mystery rather than a legal thriller, revolving around tough but likeable women who can wisecrack with the best of them. I suppose lawyers do have to be able to write, and Clark has shown she can write a fast-paced, intriguing story as well as  she can write a legal brief.

“So you kidnapped a DA,” I said, “in order to explain that?”

His brow wrinkled in consternation. “What was I gonna do? Walk into the cop shop, tell ‘em I didn’t rape that girl? What you think they gonna say? ‘Oh, sorry, man, have a nice day’? You and I both know it don’t work like that.”

I looked at him, my eyes narrowed. He twisted around to face me full on and continued.

“They throw me in the slammer first, ax questions later. Then I sit there and rot while they drag their feet checkin’ out my story. Meantime, someone else moves in on my turf. Or I get shanked by some Peckerwood or Crip in the joint.” He paused, giving me time to absorb the intricacies of his dilemma.

I said nothing, but I privately figured he was “prally” right.

–cary

The Keeper of Lost Causes

This Nordic suspense novel is not just coasting along on the coat tails of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; author Jussi Adler-Olsen is a well-known Danish writer and his characters are refreshingly human and quirky. Carl Mørck is one of those cops who is a pain in the whatever to his superiors, but too good to get rid of. After getting shot and losing two partners in an ambush, Carl is “promoted” to head a new department of one. The new Q Department looks at all the past cases that the police were unable to solve, and Carl, in his stubborn insubordination, fully plans to sit in the basement of the police department with his feet up. But his new assistant, Assad, has other ideas, and before he knows it, Carl is out to find a politician who disappeared off a ferry five years ago and has never been found.

Assad is a Muslim with a mysterious past, an eye for detail and an abundance of curiosity. Although Carl would like to keep him way in the background, Assad proves himself to be just as good a detective as Carl, and much more enthusiastic. The suspense rises as the two find new clues that lead them to uncover an unimaginably sinister plot!

“Hello, my name is Assad,” he said. The hairy mitt that he held out toward Carl looked as if it had tried a bit of everything.

Carl didn’t immediately realize where he was or who was talking to him. As a matter of fact, he’d actually fallen sound asleep with his feet propped up on the desk, the Sudoku magazines on his lap, and his chin tucked halfway down in the opening of his shirt. The usually sharp creases on his shirt now resembled an ECG. His legs were half asleep as he took them down from the desk and stared at the short, dark man standing in front of him. There was no question that he waas older than Carl, or that he hadn’t been recruited from the same peasant kingdom that Carl called home.

–cary

The Haunted House Symphony

A ghostly figure in an old mansion undergoing renovation pleads for help in saving a treasure, and paranormal investigators Margo, Ernie, Elaine and Sandy are caught up, not only in ghost hunting, but also in solving a centuries-old mystery.

Local Dallas author Sue Latham’s novel is a delightful blend of mystery, paranormal romance and humor. Latham has done some ghost hunting herself, and it’s intriguing to read about the different tools of the trade used by this team of young scientists as well as some theories about paranormal activity.

Now, you must realize that a clear and understandable disembodied voice is very rare. While we do capture EVPs relatively often,most of the time they are incredibly faint and it’s almost always impossible to understand what they are saying. They are very rarely more than the faintest of whispers, and generally sound like laughter or wordless babbling. The sound I was listening to was not of this category.

I plugged the iPod in and uploaded the recording, then played it back on the computer so we could all hear. I heard Ernie ask, “Is this your home?” then very clearly a woman’s voice–definitely not mine or Elaine’s–distinctly said, “Help me. Save it.”

–cary

Images of America: Lewisville

If you are at all interested in local history, you’ll thoroughly enjoy this photographic history of Lewisville, Texas. Author Robin Cole-Jett includes images of families, civic leaders, school children, parades, stores,  churches and working people in what is now Lewisville, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century up until modern times. It is the story of a small town and how it has changed over the years yet kept its own distinctive character.

Cole-Jett lives in Lewisville and is the author of the website Red River Historian and she is obviously passionate about history, especially of  Texas and Oklahoma. If you like to take trips to see historical sites, be sure to check out her guides Traveling History Up the Cattle Trails: A Road Tripper’s Guide to the Cattle Drives of the Southwest  and Traveling History with Bonnie and Clyde.

–cary

The Visible Man

If you had found a way to make yourself selectively invisible, how would you use that new power? In Chuck Klosterman’s latest book The Visible Man, therapy patient Y____ has invented a way to “cloak” himself so that he is invisible to everyone. In the name of scientific research, he spends his time hidden in people’s homes, theorizing that people are truly only themselves when they are alone, and there is no way to study people alone unless you are “invisible”. Unfortunately Y_____ is also a cynical, self-centered and somewhat perverse individual, and easily manipulates his therapist Victoria who is in way over her head.

The novel is developed as a series of emails and therapy notes by Victoria about her sessions with Y_____. Victoria of course has some issues of her own, especially in her marriage, which her patient soon latches onto and uses to his advantage. Victoria realizes she is making a lot of mistakes in her sessions with Y______, but seems powerless to stop herself. If you’ve ever known somebody who twists and manipulates a relationship to his own ends, you will recognize that person here. Klosterman  has a dry and wry sense of humor and a good deal of insight, I think, into people and society, making this a really original and interesting piece of fiction.

The reality I got to see was not “movie reality.” The reality I saw was just reality, without quotes. You want to know what I really learned? I learned that people don’t consider time alone as part of their life. Being alone is just a stretch of isolation they want to escape from. I saw a lot of wine-drinking, a lot of compulsive drug use, a lot of sleeping with the television on. It was less festive than I anticipated. My view had always been that I was my most alive when I was totally alone, because that was the only time I could live without fear of how my actions were being scrutinized and interpreted. What I came to realize is that people need their actions to be scrutinized and interpreted in order to feel like what they’re doing matters.

–cary

Pigeon English

Harrison Opuku is exactly the kind of character I love–a young man with imagination, innocence, wit and his own way of seeing the world. Harri is an immigrant from Ghana and lives with his mother and sister in a London housing project. In an environment of gangs, drugs, sex and murder, Harri is trying to make sense of his impending adolescence and stay out of trouble without being seen as a coward. Harri’s charm lies in his childlike belief in goodness, in superpowers and magic and the power of nature. The title refers to the delightful Ghanian-infused English that the boy and his family speak, as well as to the friendly neighborhood pigeon that Harri talks to (and who talks back).

The plot revolves loosely around the murder of a neighborhood boy; Harri and his friend Dean have decided to collect evidence and find the killer. This is the first novel of British author Stephen Kelman, who grew up in the housing projects in London himself and knows well the problems that a naive young man might run into. The ending is totally unexpected, at least to me!

I love it when you get a good surprise. Like the cement being there just waiting for us to write in it or like when you think somebody will be rubbish at something and then you find out they’re actually brilliant at it. It was the same with Manik: nobody suspected him to be such a good goalie because he’s so fat, but actually Manik’s a brilliant goalie. it’s impossible to score against him. Nothing ever gets past him. One time I kicked the ball at his head by accident and he didn’t even move, he just kept on playing as if nothing happened. Only his eyes went watery, otherwise you wouldn’t even know he’d been whacked in the head. After that we called him Superhands. He loves it, you can tell. Whenever we say it he smiles from ear to ear.

–cary