Pajiba

and English majors to do them correctly?

Hardy har har, he mocked the triviality of an English degree, how clever. I wonder how my unread copy of Ulysses would look wedged sideways between his buttcheeks?

Look at you miss Sarina, nice review!

Nice review, Sarina! Shit, I was actually thinking this would be an entertaining read, dammit. Guess I'll just have to take my fifteen bucks and go see "Iron Man" again...

"I want the first person who sees this guy to punch him in the face."

I'm always a fan of random punching, but you're gonna have to post a picture of the guy first. Stupid probation...

It's like if Ted Nugent learned how to write and kept a journal detailing all the things he didn't understand about real life.

Love the review. Sounds like the book equivalent of all those movies where people work minimum wage jobs and still manage to have things like optimism and disposable income.

I tell people to read 'Nickeled and Dimed'. If they keep trying to explain that some people deserve to work 40+ hours a week without being able to afford decent food or a half-decent apartment, I kick them in the goolies.

Thanks for the review. I went to high school with Prioleaux and can verify that none of his friends there ever had a normal, minimum wage high school job. With few exceptions (me), everyone at the school came from wealth. Maybe that's why he doesn't "get" it.

'Nickel and Dimed' I can has english skillz.

twig- I was thinking about "Nickel and Dimed" the whole time I read this. That is a book I recommend to people all the time. I am not going to read this one though.

Kinda reminds me of Morgan Spurlock's show "30 Days" where he had a white redneckish/Republicanish guy live with illegal immigrants for 30 days to see their point of view. Imagine his surprise at how hard they worked, how early they got up, how they unabashedly collected cans for extra money, and STILL found time to get their kids fed, dressed, and sent to school before going off to their third job of the day.

Anyone that has spent time in the trenches of minimum wage life knows that they don't want to go back there. The idea that there is some kind of freedom in reduced responsibilty and the poverty that comes with it is ridiculous to say the least. Only an over-priveledged, over-paid asshole would even come up with the idea. This guy sounds like a grade A putz, humourous intentions or not. Nice review, Sarina.

Kinda reminds me of Morgan Spurlock's show "30 Days" where he had a white redneckish/Republicanish guy live with illegal immigrants for 30 days to see their point of view. Imagine his surprise at how hard they worked, how early they got up, how they unabashedly collected cans for extra money, and STILL found time to get their kids fed, dressed, and sent to school before going off to their third job of the day. New York is full of self-righteous people like this. Forget the face, let's give him a good punch in the taint.

I used to wish that I was born wealthy, but then I realized that I would have missed out on all of the experiences in life that cause me to not be an asshole. My minimum wage jobs gave me a healthy respect for my money and a complete hatred of people -- two characteristics that have served me well.

I like the addition between scorzi's first and second drafts.

"Hrm, it's Pajiba, but not quite Pajiba enough - better add a taint-punch just to make sure."

Pajiba - anger management is for little whiny bitches.

"somebody will always have to cook and serve the fast food or clean up the ER when people bleed all over the place, and those somebodies deserve a better quality of life."

And that is why unions still are relevant. Despite the bad taste left by Teamsters antics (except for their drinking contests that I want in on), there's a reason why collective bargaining is the strongest tool the low level worker has.

Wait - if this book is so bad, why is Stephen Colbert quoted on the cover?

How does it feel to be nailed?

I agree with previous posters that "Nickel and Dimed" covers this same ground in a much more serious manner. Sounds like this guy tries to joke his way through.

"He doesn't bother to delve much into the real issues faced by the many people with full time jobs who are living below the poverty line in modern America, and the only solution he offers is the pursuit of higher education and a better job."

Wouldn't it be nice if people like this had to pay for that higher education with miminum wage like the rest of us? I would put money on it being this guy ordering drinks and pinching my ass while I waitressed my way through college.

I wasn't impressed with "Nickel and Dimed" at all. Ehrenreich struck me as nothing more than a "HEY LOOK I'M LIBERAL" kind of condescending rich bitch who took the jobs for shits and giggles but never really understood the lifestyle and real experience. Fuck that book.

Maybe one day a really good, level investigation of what it's really like to live off a minimum wage job will be presented for all to see, because it sounds like there isn't one yet. Not one that's getting publicity, in any case.

What an absolute douchebag. And fat jokes? Really? Talk about a cheap shot. I have and have always had zero patience for people who have no conception of what it's like to work a minimum wage/menial job. You can usually spot them getting pissed off at a person making rock-bottom wages who they expect to bend to their every whim. Reminds me of a date I was on where the dude said "There aren't actually people who have no health insurance"...and boyfriend was SERIOUS. I was appalled and realized that many affluent people are as naive as this guy. Scary.

I, too, recommend Ehrenreich's books - I prefer N & D, but Bait and Switch actually hit closer to home.

Nice review on a so-so book. Punch this guy in the face if I see him, will do.

A good documentary about this topic is "Waging a Living". Truly sad and frustrating. Also makes me thank the Spaghetti Monster for a desk job.

The review had me thinking about the Fed Ex ad where the new guy stiffly proclaims that he cannot be the one to enter the orders because he "has an MBA".
"Oh, you have an MBA?" replies the longtime staffer. "I'll have to do it for you, then."

So true; the amount of work upper-management pushes onto others below them is maddening. I work in television, and it's amazing how many "program directors" know fuck-all about their own station's programs.

Marty - she was an academic and public intellectual, not some "rich bitch." There were issues with the book, but her explicit goal was to see if one could actually live on a "living wage", not to delve deeply into the mindset of this country's working poor. Her experience exposed the notion of a "living wage" as the utter bullshit it is.

Marty, I don't think I read the same book as you. I don't really rememeber her being condescending, more amazed that anyone could live off so little, and grateful for the things that she had. If I remember, she was pretty open about the fact that she found minimum wage jobs to be plenty difficult and that she wasn't up to the task she'd set for herself.

I remember a lot of other people's voices in the book as well, like the woman who was told to 'pop an asprin' for her migraines when she was doing maid service, or the tired woman who said you get 'used to' living in hotels instead of being able to afford a proper apartment.

Hooray, Sarina - - Great review!

Have not read the book, and I don't think I will. Alexander sounds like an asshat.

Our Sarina is all grown up and reviewing!

excellent review, pretty much summed up everything my conservative republican boss does not get about life...

will most likely not be reading this book, but I am intrigued about Nickel and Dimed...yet another book to add to my loooong reading list...

I am currently working at one of those, thankless, low-wage jobs, dealing with assholes who come into a hotel and think all front desk clerks are prostitutes (we're not). I'm doing it so I can pay for my car, clothes, food and continue to go to college. I hate people who think that higher education is just handed out to people, and that everyone in college is just drinking it up while their parents pay. Nope. Not true. Dude, I wish everyone realized that higher education, although more accessible than before, is not just given to people. And, ineveitably, someone will still be asking people if they want a smoking or non-smoking room, so let's treat them better, no matter how we try to make college necessary. We need to find solutions for making "blue collar" jobs better, not criticize people for not going to college.
Good review, Sarina!

I hate this guy with such a passion and I'd never even heard of him or his book before reading this review.

Marty:

I knew a few others have addressed this, but in reference to Ehrenreich being a "rich bitch" who made fun of her subjects, she is a daughter of a miner from Butte Montana, her family didn't reach middle-class status until she was an older teenager and she has a life-long history of advocating for better working conditions. Perhaps you're thinking of a different book?

RE "While Alexander appears to find himself uproariously funny and deeply meaningful, his humour is pretty tepid and he manages only to skim the surface of the drudgery of minimum wage employment. He doesn't bother to delve much into the real issues faced by the many people with full time jobs who are living below the poverty line in modern America..."

Yeah, that sounds like an ad exec to me, except it sounds more like a "Creative." They all think they're hilarious, and most of them are mistaken.

I delivered pizza for 2 1/2 years. Pay sucked and dealing with the idiot public sucks even more. If I ever get to hating my office job, all I have to do is think how much the (wage-paying, as opposed to the salary I get now) jobs I had before blew goats, and I feel pretty fortunate.

"Do you realize how far you've got to dumb things down for stoners, nerds, burnouts, knuckleheads, teenagers and English majors to do them correctly?"

Huh? I get that he's ripping on English majors, but if half his point is the value of higher education, then how does that remotely make sense? And aren't nerds supposed to be smart?

One of my first nearly-minimum wage jobs involved a lot of ice cream scooping. (Visitor's center in a hot, humid city during the summer --> high ice cream demand) After a few months, my wrist started cracking and throbbing whenever I even picked up the scoop. It's mind-boggling to think that there are so many people doing much less-pleasant jobs, for less pay, with much worse working-induced conditions than aching wrists, and with their homes and families depending on them.

I go to a college whose area, (relative) exclusivity, and crappy financial aid means that there are tons of rich kids. Every time we start talking about summer jobs, I'm shocked at how many kids here have never had a single job. A lot of them are scared at the thought that they might have one this summer. Some of them have never even paid for any of their own clothes or anything. Most of them are at least 19 years old.

New York is full of self-righteous people like this. Forget the face, let's give him a good punch in the taint.

Like Ted , when instructed not to punch Barney in the face (in last week's HIMYM) just punched him in the balls.

What a tool. As I comment to my friends when they ask how's work "Work's work." Only few of us a fortunate enough to have a job we truly enjoy. With that said, I'm not sure it will ever dawn on me to chuck it all and go work at The Gap and there nothing life affirming to learn from making fries or mopping up blood.

Too bad Barbara Ehrenreich did it first with "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America." Yawn. Just another book about the rich trying to be one of the "little people," when some people have to do this every single day of their lives.

Great review. Instead of this condescending waste of paper, I'd recommend A Working Stiff's Manifesto by Iain Levison. It's not necessarily about working minimum wage jobs, but it is about working crappy jobs. Instead of dealing with a larger theme like Nickel & Dimed, it really just deals with the author's own experience. He manages to be hilarious and a little depressing at the same time. You'll finish it remembering to be grateful for the tedious office job you hate but work to pay the rent.

Welcome, Sarina! Hmmmm, what's this pink-slip thingie from Dustin in the mail ...?

It's funny how difficult this concept is for privileged people not living it. I detest my day job in many ways, but I never for one second think that abandoning it for a job slinging hash or delivering pizzas is somehow a solution. Just the occasional look at how my hillbilly relatives scrape by on double or even triple minimum wage is plenty to keep me gratefully flying this desk.

(Still and all, I think Nickeled and Dimed is unadulterated shite, other than the basic, "no shit, Sherlock" premise. It's been years since I read it, but I found the book to be dishonest in its analysis, frequently giving half the story to justify a point and setting up a stadia full of strawmen to knock down for cheap political points. Ehrenreich's credibility is suspect, at best, and our country's shameful treatment of its working poor doesn't need that kind of friend, IMO.)

And Paddy: word. As much unjustified annoyance as they can impose on an employer, unions are truly the best friend of the worker outside of an enlightened electorate. Can a best friend be inefficient and corrupt? Yes. Can a best friend lose track of what the fuck he was supposed to be doing in the first place? Yes. Doesn't make him not your best friend.

Errmmmm. Hmm. Either just "stadia" or "a stadium." Your choice. Well, double dumbass on me!

I've got a cousin who didn't have a job until she was twenty-one. Sh'e consistently rude to people in the service industry, and has never had a day of actual, physical labor. She probably thinks this book is HI-LARIOUS!

At her college graduation party, I drunkenly peed half a squirt in her red cup... Just kidding. I didn't do that... or did I?

(cue appropriate music and fade to black)

Socalled:

You're speaking to me again? Yea. I was wondering why I was getting the socalledonlycoldhsoulder for the past few weeks. Love the use of "stadia". Nothing pleases me more than people who pluralize properly for latin words or vice versa). Everytime someone uses "data" instead of "datum" I come a little closer to declaring the revolution.

Skittimus - my husband and I like to point out that people like your cousin (and, sadly, relatively high-earning lawyers like my husband and me) will all get bayonetted in our beds when the revolution comes, anyway. Take comfort in that.

Hmm...has she seen "Fight Club"?

I saw Joyce Meyer on TV one time talking about having an early flight and complaining that her coffee clerk at the airport was not all bright and cheery. I guess Ol' Blingy was saying that the girl hadn't learned how to enjoy the hell out of the life she has, and maybe also pitied her a bit for that. Hey, I won't knock encouraging a positive outlook, but it sounded just a bit like rich woman bitching about the help.

What's nice about my job is that, while it has many of the same...difficult personalities any service job does, there's also people who are embarrassingly thankful to me. I surely did not get that in the bookstore cafe or grocery store but I'm not being any better of a person now.

Oh and don't just leave your grocery carts sitting out randomly in the parking lot. At least put em in the little corrals.

I already told you to leave your browsed books and magazines on a table rather than on the wrong shelf, right? Okay, thanks.

I've none people who never had a job until well into their twenties. I'm talking, not even the cake "sit-in-a-chair-and-check-ids" Student Jobs. When he (and she) finally DID get a job, it was with a university, being a research assistant during Grad School. They even had the balls to complain.

Very few of us (I think, as people keep mentioning majors, past experiences, etc.) actually still work these jobs, or have hope of not working them at some future date. Living in West Philly has taught me to Shut The Fuck Up. When a guy lies to me about being a Maintenance Guy, instead of Sandwich Maker (I found out during a truly embarrassing episode in the Sunoco Building), I have nothing on my bitch list.

Yeah, I've had my ass pinched, crappy managers, shitty pay. I've had to eat rice for a month in order to pay rent. I've superglued wounds and taken out stitches in my bathroom.

But I always knew I'd have a way out. That can keep a person going for a long ass time. My "meaningless" degrees, while not given away (ahem, $300/month to Dept of Ed) - they are still mine. I can still do something else. That's what a lot of people don't get sometimes. Yeah, you can have a shitty summer job, as we all saw this past week, but eventually, us lucky ones, we get out.

What's terrifying is that there are so many who don't get out of those jobs. Their kids go right into them as well. They rarely vote, they are so disenfranchised that some people don't even know they exist.

Wait, didn't I say that living in West Philly has taught me to Shut The Fuck Up? Oops, my bad.

!!! Estelle, I live in West Philly too! And yes, it does indeed teach you to shut the hell up :)

And I can spell "know" - I just choose not too because I'm too cool for grammar and correct spelling. Duh.

Julie, no way! That's so fun. I wonder if I've ever run into you before. Do you ever hang out at the Satellite Cafe? Or Dock Street? Or Mariposa? I want a Pajiba Friend!

Colbert is quoted on the cover because Colbert and Alexander are from the same city and went to the same school.

well I don't know, spambot you saw his nice profile with hot pics- is he looking for new dates (seriously)?

I very much agree with you all, yes low-level jobs suck the big hairy one but people who've never busted their arse in one suck even more.

I agree with the above -- nice job, Sarina. Maybe next time YOU can get the zombie movie.

But enough about you, do you think there's anyone out there interested in a show about my decision to quit a successful career as a lawyer in order to go surfing for a few years in a series of third world countries?

Nah, me neither. Dammit.

I used to work as an ice cream scooper. Surprisingly humiliating, very tiring. Nursing homes suck too. The bookstore was surprisingly terrible. Don't work as a restarant hostess. When the tip-out is optional, how many slag-hag waitresses do you suppose with 'opt' to share? Fine, if you won't share, I'll live. But don't tell me about your huge hauls the previous night.

When you come from a family that had to save up to be poor, you would come in contact with so many people (government-assigned, or assholes on the street), who were so sure about how you could turn it around. Of course this would come gift-wrapped in the assumption that you were an illiterate street-cooze. So superior.

I mean, it's just the last thing you want to hear when you're waiting for the food bank to swing around, or a big ol' cheque full of nothing from the government. It's so dispiriting to have that mark on your identity-- to be a literal charity case-- and then have the Peanut Patrol shout advice at you. Impractical, condescending advice. I'm sure most of them had their hearts in the right place, but no one wants to hear about 'the channels of communication', when you've got one parent taking out every possible frustration on you in every way imaginable, and another parent robbing you blind whenever your head is turned, and you're just hungry and mad and confused. I wouldn't even know how to approach a person like this. How to talk to another stranger who knows you better than your own fingerprints do.

Dudes like this (in my experience with el sexo opposito-which is extremely limited) think they're cultured because they subscribe to G.Q. And also in my experience (I'm making sure to qualify this), they're extremely surprised when you rub those poor little brain cells together and something ignites. But no, I'm sure knowing which cufflinks to buy, and enjoying the long, slow reveal to the 'Sexiest Woman Alive' is the true marker of genius. They've certainly never read Ulysses. They always say they're too busy living a real life. I guess that means they couldn't make it past Leopold's outhouse adventure.

I'm surely not expressing myself well, I let my emotions grab hold of the reins. But I don't have to deal with these types on such an intimate basis anymore, so I'm good.

I reserve the following rant for the maniacs I've met, not anyone on this board, who all seem like reasonable, intelligent people. I'm too squeamish for zombie flicks, so I'm no Awesome Possum.

I guess all I have to say to these jack-holes is: I read Ulysses in four days, because it's a book, alright? It's a fucking book. It won't rough you up in an alleyway, it won't foreclose on your house, it won't reveal your secrets to Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, it won't slip hemlock into your Tang, it won't replace your Valtrex with mouse droppings. It's a fucking book.

So, peckerhead: does that make me smarter than you? Not in and of itself, but I'd say it's a damned fine start. So lick it up baby, LICK IT UP!

Jo 'Mama's got a birthday on Saturday. Are people still saying 'woot, woot'? Wish I weren't so crazy sick (since February) with this Apocolyptic Death Infection, they don't know what the hell it is, but...two antibiotics are better than one, right? Shit, I missed a dose. Gotta go. No time to proof-read, just like my essays. Yeah!

...yes low-level jobs suck the big hairy one but people who've never busted their arse in one suck even more.

I don't know that I'd go that far - I'd say the parents of those people suck even more. I firmly believe you're a product of your environment, and if Mommy and Daddy gave you everything you needed without asking you to get a job, then at least some of the blame falls on them. My parents were upper middle class and could afford to give me whatever I wanted, but they made me start working at 14 (at one of the few local restaurants that would hire a kid so young) so I'd learn how to earn my own way. I dropped out of college at 19 and asked my parents if I could move back home...they said no. I ended up going back to college and finishing my degree so I would never have to ask them that question again. I make a great living now, and I believe I owe it to them for teaching me to work hard for what I want.

Contrast me with my two former best friends who weren't asked to get jobs until they reached their 20's, when their parents started to realize they'd never leave the nest unless someone said something to them. Neither went to college, which wouldn't be a major deal if they were able to hold down decent jobs (they're not). One of them still lives with her parents, and we're all in our 30's now.

Ha! Estelle, I was at Dock Street on Friday, I live 3 blocks from there :) Too funny. I've never been inside the Satelite Cafe though...it intimidates me. Hee.

That was an amusing review that missed the point of the book completely. Alexander is a humorist. He is cynical. Nobody should take his observations personally. He is not mocking the hard work that goes into majoring in English. He is offering a diversion. He actually went out and got these jobs and did the work. He did not sit in an ivory tower and report observations and opinions like some. He got the jobs and did the work. He certainly doesn't stoop to the pitiful chaos of punching others in the face and peeing in their drinks.

Nice review, Sarina, and thanks for saving me the trouble of reading this! It looks like this guy is just a social tourist.

I worked retail on weekends and during school holidays as soon as I was old enough to (fifteen and three months was the somewhat arbitrary age limit), until I left school. The pay was a joke, there was no overtime for the many hours of mandatory stocktaking, and though the law insisted that chairs be provideded for staff at the registers and behind counters, we were never allowed to use them because 'it looks bad'. (I'm pretty sure I can date my varicose veins and bad back from those endless hours of standing still). And don't get me started on the customers - oy!
So when I got out of there and into office jobs, I felt blessed. And I am never, ever rude to people in retail or any other low-wage nasty job. It sucked to work like that even as a teenager with my home comforts provided. I can't imagine how hard it is to try to make a living that way.

'provided'. Fuck it...

Nice review Sarah,

Wow - you are one angry, humorless woman. This book had me laughing out loud.

It's a fun read, the kind of book that goes with you everywhere, and you're a little disappointed when the back cover is closed.

Sarah, honestly, you didn't like the cowboy section? You may need a blood transfusion, that sh@t was funny.

Keep writing Prioleau, love your style

...oh, and I am now back in the rat race, running like hell.

This right here:
"At one point in the prologue he actually says, "Do you realize how far you've got to dumb things down for stoners, nerds, burnouts, knuckleheads, teenagers and English majors to do them correctly?" Of course, he is then confused by pizza delivery and the sequence of keys you hit on a computer to clock in, and is a little surprised when working fast food turns out not to be fun"

That's it.
Fuck the face.
Somebody punch him in the balls and murder him in the face.

Wow,
Let me guess. You feel that "Animal House" was a gross misrepresentation of man's right of passage through college?
Have any of you pseudo-intellectual wannabes even read the book?
Here is a lesson. Read the book without the "I'm better than the author" angry attitude. I bet you think it's funny.

I have the uncomfortable feeling that many in this thread, including our reviewer, often have fries with that. Lots of fries.

Wow. For a marine, this is the best you could muster up for a defense? I bet you're the kind of guys who read Tucker Max and high-five each other over Coors Light in sports bars with big ass marlins on the walls. Hopefully, you follow his example, and screw your way to victory, and the ensuing STDs render you sterile and sore-ridden, underneath bathrobes like John Merrick in his ProActiv ad. There isn't something with a specific gravity dense enough for me to hurl at you. Die in a tire fire, you trolling unclefuckers.

Insert, don't you love when they resort to obtuse fat jokes? It's the classic "I have no clever or original thought nor do I possess a ounce of reasoning" assault.

I was really tempted to leave a comment along of the lines of

"I have the uncomfortable feeling that someone in this thread, and I mean gus, often have to resort to crude fat jokes to make him feel better about the fact that he can't get laid. Lots of chafing."

But then I thought better of it and decided not to go there.

Instead, I found this review to be extremely well written, and worthy of Pajiba--it was insightful, funny (which is more than the book reviewed can say) and most importantly a scathing review for bitchy people. Well done Sarah.

Maybe if I stood behind some barbed wire and you could see the bumps in my spine through my abdomen, these lovely gentlemen and I could be best friends.

...or not.

So Gus and/or John leap to the defense of Lieutenant Alexander, never noticing that if he were a more imaginitive writer, he would have been able to come up with better pseudonyms for his other (non-)personalities than Gus and/or John.

Seriously, if you don't think this guy is a walking buttplug, go to littlefishconsulting and check out his 'About' page, replete with pathetically wishful pictures of James Bond and the Unabomber. He purchased a bungee jump from a guy with no shirt! Hemingway would be impressed. And his little tantrum on LISNews tells you all you need to know.

Great review, Sarina

Have any of you pseudo-intellectual wannabes even read the book?

Gee, John, why does that ridiculous line ring some bells? Oh, yeah, because it's been uttered by about a trillion other tools who don't understand the concept of a review or a comment thread. If you have defense of the book, spill it. But complaining that people responding to a review may not have read it ... well, I guess I can't explain it to you, Bubba.

gus: Fuck you and your sad, tired response. Like every other shithead troll with nothing substantive to say, except your nonsensical resort to a fat joke doesn't even work in a tired stereotype sort of way. It's just stupid and sad. Roll off your sister and pay attention.

See what I did there? I attacked you for incest with no context or rationale! Isn't that fucking hilarious, tool?

Oh, and Prioleau: Posting as john and/or gus or having your friends do it won't make your shriveled up junk magically grow overnight.

Oh, and the thing about him being a cynical humorist? Good humorists understand that the joke has to be on them, not the blue-collars they're riding to comedy stardom (not). Mean-spirited and petty still makes him a tiny, tiny person. Tucker Max, indeed.

In his book. Alexander coined the term "towel throwers". So called because after simply removing the notion of their ever having sex again, a towel thrower can eat all the ice cream they want for the rest of their fat assed lives. They've thrown in the towel in the fight against lard assedness. This "towel thrower" notion is hysterical to virtually everyone who has ever witnessed a towel thrower waddle through a triple decker chocolate nut fudge banana screamer with the pitiful, yet ever present, diet coke on the side. Everyone except of course for the towel throwers themselves. So much so, that it could effect a towel thrower's over all opinion of the entire book. And thank you for sending me on a search for information on Mr. Alexander, I found out that he was an English Major at Auburn! So you see, the joke is on him.

Aw.. seems like Mr. Muffinpants didn't like the review of the book.

I'm sure as hell not going to read it now. Asshat.

And whoever suggested punching him in the taint is my new soulmate.

Ya'll, I am 27, have an BA in Counseling Psych and I (wait for it...) work as a hostess in a restaurant. Yeah. Take it in.

Why? 'Cause with tips I make about $10 an hour (good for this tiny tourist town), I get full-time work and it pays the bills. Grad schools expensive and far away and desk jobs are few and far between in this town. I just took the postal exam.

You do what you have to in order to provide. I buy fomula for the kid and pay bills and shit and work god damn hard for all of it. Does it suck? Hells yes, on some days. Does it suck as bad as it could? Nah. I'm made of stronger stuff than that (I believe there is some titanium in my jaw).

Point? Uh...damn... oh yeah. Sometimes the ...higher-class? more socially admirable? jobs just aren't available. But working in the restauarant, I'm in WAY better shape now. (Always with the perks.)

Nice review Sarina. I was interested in reafing this, but I think I'll check out Nickel and Dimed first.

With all this commentary I'll have to check it out now. However is it really necessary to track him down on another site and start a giant intellectual flame war?

For the record, I didn't track him down anywhere. Someone copied an entire paragraph of my review and used it as part of an anonymous comment on a website for librarians (a site which I'd never even heard of before today) where Mr. Alexander was already in the midst of a rather less than decorous "discussion" of the merits of his book.

Mr. Alexander then started talking about me and posted the link to this review, which popped up on Pajiba's statcounter, where Stacey saw it and, for obvious reasons, found the whole juvenile sideshow pretty hilarious and linked to it on today's Pajiba Love. That was the first I knew of any of this. The only comments I made on the LISNews site were to state that I had not posted the anonymous comment which had further set off Mr. Alexander, and to then respond to a query regarding how I had been directed to the site.

Frankly, I find this whole thing hysterical. All of this hue and cry over a little book review. Go figure.

I figured as much. Just seemed like an unintentional, unexpected red flag to battle. And I shouldn't be surprised at all that an author would be trolling (and thats really about the only way to describe it) interweb blogs and yet it still does. Ugh.

So called because after simply removing the notion of their ever having sex again, a towel thrower can eat all the ice cream they want for the rest of their fat assed lives. They've thrown in the towel in the fight against lard assedness. This "towel thrower" notion is hysterical to virtually everyone who has ever witnessed a towel thrower waddle through a triple decker chocolate nut fudge banana screamer with the pitiful, yet ever present, diet coke on the side. Everyone except of course for the towel throwers themselves. So much so, that it could effect a towel thrower's over all opinion of the entire book.

First of all, don't use my handle, or any part of it, without sending me a $5 check. Take it out of your Social Security disability, or your mama's SSA check that you continue to steal.

Second, he may have claimed to make that up, but Dennis Miller was using that, oh, fifteen years ago, you sad moron.

Third, you know what's hysterical to me, Nephew-Sonny? Bumfuck worm farmers who don't know the difference between "effect" (which you used incorrectly, but maybe Mr. English Major will "hep" you out, Fanboy) and "affect," which is what you meant to say. (Also, "overall" is either one word or hypenated, but not two words, stork error.)

And, again, explain the context for your participation in this remote-controlled Battle of the Bulge? You know what motivates me in this current comment thread? The idea that there are catheter-crusts out there -- and I'm not naming names, Gus -- who get to vote, despite their 70 IQs. ("IQ" stands for "intelligence quotient." "Quotient" refers to when one number is divided into another. Never mind, Brudda-unca.)

Gus, since no one has even convinced someone like you of anything, except to wipe himself after impregnating his sister, and that was with some effort, I'm done with you. Just try to wear your stupidity clearly on your face so that someone can swerve and give natural selection another victory.

Pajibill and So called only cousins,.............
Wrong, you morons. I stumbled on this site to find a bunch of idiots who "want to punch the author in the face" because of a bad review they read about a book most probably never will read. The reviewer is too stupid to realize that Alexander is being self-depricating when she thinks he is being cruel or not politically correct. You two are so dumb, or blinded by the cadillac sized chip on your shoulders, that you don't understand that there is nothing "mean spirited" in the book. In fact, if you actully read the book, you would have realized that Alexander is pointing out the hardships of life at min wage. But, your tiny brains and your chips on your shoulders and your need to feel important make for intertaining blog reading. Go ahead and cus me now. It will make you feel good, nimrods.

Brilliant comeback, John. You really put us and our chips in our places. I better get busy checking out the 5,624,897,123 books, films, albums, compositions, essays and whatnot that I can never say anything negative (or positive) about until I've read, watched or listened to them. That is, after all, the entire point of art criticism.

Say hello to Prioleau. Oh, wait, you'll never see this because you wouldn't come back to a comment thread full of a bunch of idiots.

Once upon a time, Cormac McCarthy shat in my bowl of Cheerios at a diner 'cause I mentioned that I didn't really like the ending to "The Road".

True story.

And thank you for sending me on a search for information on Mr. Alexander, I found out that he was an English Major at Auburn! So you see, the joke is on him.

Holy crap, the author went to Auburn?

Y'all, this explains EVERYTHING. I don't know if there are any SEC football fans in the house, but if there are -- have any of you ever had to deal with an Auburn fan? They are largely teh suck.

And majoring in English at Auburn? Not that impressive.

have any of you ever had to deal with an Auburn fan? They are largely teh suck.

HAHAHAHA!!!

As someone who lives right down the road from Auburn, and lives with an Auburn "grad"...I'd like to point out that this statement is largely accurate.

I really, really hope John and Gus are just random trolls...because if they're friends of the author or the author himself...this whole business has been in extreme poor taste. And for being "Marines"? Yeah...fuck you. I'm former military myself. The concept of sacrificing yourself for the common man doesn't translate so well to civilian life, I guess? I suppose if you don't have someone barking orders into your ear all day, you start to believe you can think on your own. Marine? Give me a break. What's the matter, failed out of high school and couldn't get accepted into the smarter branches?

Holy crap, the author went to Auburn?

Y'all, this explains EVERYTHING.

Amen. Of course, I'm a UA student, so I'm probably channeling some of my school's 'anti-Auburn' angst, but I really wasn't surprised at the level of douchebaggery by these guys either, PaleoLithchick...

Hi, guys!
This is my first, last, and only post on this site. Not a word up to this point has been written by me, but it's sure been fun reading all your insights and remarks. I'd like to spend a few hours doing Q&A, but I'm working on my next book. Ya'll take care, and keep looking at the bright side of life.

I think I got it: you all go on these sites to make posts -- for fun!

Not quite how I learned to review books. But hey! It's the Internet Age! Anonymity, no consequences, shameless: it's the twenty-first century's version of 1960's Free Love! Dig it!

On a technical note: Paddydog's a dipshit, and knows no Latin. "Stadia" is an instrument, not the singular of a place. So your angst on misuse by the mere plebs, Paddydog, is misdirected. Vivian, darling, "murder" is another name for "homicide," refering to the unlawful dispatch of another entire human being -- not just their face, Darling. Anger that clouds your thinking to that degree is probably indicative of a dangerous heart condition, sweetie. And, uh, oh yes, Mr. Shadows of Dakaron, it's the little girls that go to the alleged "smarter branches" or say only anonymously "fuck you" to Marines. The door to the men's room is wherever the Corps puts it -- as you well know. (To the rest of you: when they say only "former military," they mean, "Air Force," not, "LURPS in Laos," which is what they want you to believe without actually lying. The real men say, "former Marine.")

I thought THE ACTUAL BOOK a good read. So what it ain't angsty and liberal. Still good fun. Why the hell do we read most books, anyway?

This is my first, last, and only post on this site. Not a word up to this point has been written by me, but it's sure been fun reading all your insights and remarks. I'd like to spend a few hours doing Q&A, but I'm working on my next book. Ya'll take care, and keep looking at the bright side of life.

Yes, I'm sure. Don't let the door hit you in the ass, genius, and say hello to your little butt buddies who go around posting positive reviews for you and defending you from well-deserved shit grenades. And you probably should get started on that next book, given that you're currently the 26,325th bestseller among books on Amazon.

biggreenweenie, you're not going to troll around like a hustler in the bushes (you know what that is!) and sneak in the last word. You're just another vagrant rolling through during the night, leaving skidmarks on the lawn chairs. Let's look at your infantile, inbred post, however, for lessons on how to avoid looking like a shitbag.

Not quite how I learned to review books. But hey! It's the Internet Age! Anonymity, no consequences, shameless: it's the twenty-first century's version of 1960's Free Love! Dig it!

Hee hee hee, did you really just call us dirty hippies, with no irony? I get it: You're Barry Goldwater. Congratulations, that explains a lot, actually.

Paddydog's a dipshit, and knows no Latin. "Stadia" is an instrument, not the singular of a place.

Please stop shaming yourself by addressing Paddy, who has lost more IQ points to drinking contests than your parents squeezed into your entire chromosome pack. It's embarrassing for you that I have to explain that "stadia" is the plural of "stadium," which is what she and I were discussing. Also, "dipshit," which I assume is how everyone addresses you, means you're a dumbass, so we'll reserve that nickname for you.

Anger that clouds your thinking to that degree is probably indicative of a dangerous heart condition, sweetie.

What, no fat joke, Einstein? How else are you going to distract everyone from your homoerotic ranting about your tough-guy military service?

The door to the men's room is wherever the Corps puts it -- as you well know.

I just love this kind of fraternity boy bluster by desperate rent-a-cops pining for their service days. In fact, the door to the men's room is wherever you happen to be trolling for someone who wants a blowjob.

it's the little girls that go to the alleged "smarter branches" or say only anonymously "fuck you" to Marines.

Right, because biggreenweenie is your real name, is that right, soldier? Insecurity much?

The real men say, "former Marine."

My absolute favorite out of this whole tirade. No, you sad, empty, lifeless piece of shit. Real men talk about something other than what you apparently spend every waking, breathing moment of your life desperately waxing nostalgic for, like a dried-up spinster pining for her high school prom. "Former Marine"? Why don't you try some honesty going forward and announce "Currently Pointless Waste of Space." What a pathetic display.

More's to the point, real men don't announce what REAL MEN they are, and they don't go around talking about how tough they are. For the sake of our military, I dearly hope you are lying about your past, because you are a fucking disgrace.

Ta-da!

Precisely as I predicted at the librarian's book review website.

Thanks, Ted. Made my day. Laughed so hard I nearly wet myself.

Read the book yet, Ted? Googled "spirit of the bayonet"? Still afraid of girls and loud cars? Feel like I've known you my whole life, lover.

Homoerotic, that's great, five whole syllables. Pull anything? My, my. "Sticks and stones."

Love to all, and especially you, Ted, you know what I mean, loverboy, signed, Currently Pointless Waste of Space

Marines... love 'em or hate 'em, you gotta admit they are really good at killing bad guys.

"Marines... love 'em or hate 'em, you gotta admit they are really good at killing bad guys"

Which bad guys would these be? The civilian slaughter in Iraq, or the scores of friendly-fire deaths they've been racking up? I wouldn't want a Marine behind me for two reasons - it's either going to be my ass, or my life at risk.

I read these comments, and I feel like I'm going to go blind with rage, and just want to go hit something. But I stop myself. I think...hey, I could have been a Marine! But not a good one, since I did practice restraint.

Sorry buddy, there's a reason I went into a smarter branch...just couldn't stop using my brain to think rather than my trigger finger. So you can keep your musclehead testosterone-driven homoerotic tendencies.

There's always a place for Marines...it's called cannon fodder. Why do you think they're discouraged from free thought?

Precisely as I predicted at the librarian's book review website.

Examine that sentence for a moment, James, and try to figure out where your life went horribly, horribly off the tracks. And you said I would be back at that site to respond to you, not here on the review thread where we were discussing the book before you managed to pull your head out of Prioleau's ass. It is humorous, however to see you remark about "pulling" something, given you probably spent three hours on the throne coming up with "Ted-let." Anyway, try to keep your story straight, Stadium Buccaneer. Or stadia, if you prefer.

In any event, I'm glad to see that you're starting to come out of the closet and adopting an honest tone about your place in the world.

And on that note, PFC Jagoff, the spambot has arrived to find you a man.

Hey folks, lets not bag on all Marines because of 1-3 douchebags invading the site. I know a couple of really awesome "former" Marines. They would totally feed these douchemuffins their own faces. And my very favorite of the "former" Marines that I know (ex-boyfriend/still a close friend) actually DID read this book and told me not to bother because it was vapid and dull. See? It's not the Marines that suck... it's the 1-3 guys alternately sobbing into and raging at their keyboards.

And like I said earlier, y'all. AUBURN. AU. BURN. It's all that has to be said.

Shadows of Dakaron, I commend you on your bravery in living so very close to Auburn. hop3, it isn't just because you're UA. If you're in the SEC, you know about the dreaded Auburn scourge. Here in Baton Rouge, we buy extra booze before they roll into town, because the only way we can handle them at the tailgates is if we are drunker than usual.

And that's saying something.

Hey folks, lets not bag on all Marines because of 1-3 douchebags invading the site. I know a couple of really awesome "former" Marines. They would totally feed these douchemuffins their own faces.

Definitely agree, though I question any group that creates its own mythology to glorify itself, crow about its own toughness, and justify its members' actions, no matter how benighted those actions may be. Jarhead really blew the lid off an already shaky kettle.

Oh my G*dt*pus (I'm orthodox this week, ya gotta problem with that?), I can't believe the refuse-to-die this topic has taken!

BigGreenBarracksBitch: On a slightly more accurate technical note, stadia is not singular; murder their face is figurative; referring is spelled with two R's; calling Vivian "Darling" & "sweetie" is probably wishful thinking; and angsty is something you pulled out of your big green ass.

Most importantly, real Marines NEVER use the term former; if you weren't kicked out, you are a Marine. Always.

James/Gus/John/other camp followers, and especially LT Alexander: As someone in their 22nd year of military leadership, I detect an all-too-common tendency among junior officers to feel that their upbringing and training has made them incapable of failure. This in turn leads to the sacrifice of blood and treasure by repeatedly using the same tactics and attack points that got people killed yesterday. (Looking at you, GW).

Example: You are trying to wage a battle of words against an entrenched force of film adepts, Lit majors, and underemployed grad students (like there's any other kind of grad student). I know you don't deign to haunt these catacombs of snarkiness, but, trust me; these people have Murder Tanks and armies of the undead at their command. You, sir, are outgunned and on a poorly chosen battlefield. If you were a boxer, your corner man would be yelling at you to stay down and wait for the bell.

Every author finds that he or she can't please all readers; pick your audience. If librarians and other literati don't like your work, do some market research and find a more approachable crowd. (Hint: tractor pulls)

By the way, the tractor pull guys will tell you that ya'll is spelled y'all. And WTF is your first name if you decided to go with Prioleau?

Everyone Else: The weenie-wavers and rear echelon MFs vying for attention on this subject are in no way representative of the brave men and women serving in the US military. The young people I have the privilege of serving with are the reason I'm still in after 22 years. (Also, when you retire from the military, you get a letter of thanks from the current President, and let's just say I care whose name is on my letter.)

Pajibill, I won't do you the dishonor of an awkward civilian salute; I will leave you with my gratitude. Well played, sir, and I vacate the field to your singular, awesome control of it.

Pajibill, I'm humbled by your eloquent response. Thank you, and my apologies if anything I said seemed provocative.

Pajibill, thank you. In pissing contests like this (though it was pretty enjoyable to watch), it's nice to hear from such a reasonable party.

Amongst Marines there is a very old saying....there is no such thing as an ex-Marine only former Marines. My father, myself and my younger brother knocked down about 70 years of service to the Corps between us. So, yes, Marines will use the term former Marine..it is ex-Marine that they will not touch.

Other than that...all I have to say is loosen your ties a little.

Here is the Amazon sales rank over time for this book: http://charteo.us/amzn/items/1559708646

Pajibill,Ted,
Defeated?, yes. Humbled and won over is more appropriate. I re-read the book last night; But I did it as a pompous, angry unemployed grad student. I, too, thought the book to be unfunny in this new light. I, too, thought that it would be appropriate to "punch Alexander in his face", "taint" and "murder his face" too.
I would love to be a part of the pajiba crowd. The self congratulatory group love would really help my self esteem. A bonus: All your blog friends agree with you all the time. Delightful.

I never knew much about Auburn. Thanks for enlightening me. Now I know the whole state of Alabama is a cesspool. Maybe that's why Bo Jackson broke his hip.
I agree, also, that Alexander must come from extraordinary wealth. How else could he afford to write a book you don't even like?

22 years of military leadership. Wow, maybe I'll be a corporal one day too.

Being defeated, I have decided to banish myself from this open minded forum forever.
I am going to punish myself with a trip to the Bahamas.
Thanks for all the fun, you silly Canadians.

Y'all -- WE HAVE TO STAY AWAY FROM THE BAHAMAS.

It's the only way to keep from being bored to DEATH.

What a pack of girls. Makes me cry for the lost future. Insight without understanding. Opinion without facts. Pajibill's sophistry worshiped as logic. The Seinfeld of book reviews. Yadda, yadda. A crying travesty. Juvenile; childish; sophormoric. Goodbye, and good riddance. Oh, and -- given the state of the culture, your best investment is ammunition.

At least one person liked the book.