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The Night Cleaner
Florence Aubenas (Author)
9780745651996, Polity Press
Hardback, published 6 May 2011
184 pages
21.3 x 14.5 x 2.5 cm, 0.386 kg
"Aubenas's story is bleak because it lacks a conviction that things could be different. The story lies in the rubble - literally - of the achievements and failures of organised labour." "The Night Cleaner records Aubenas' time among those for whom the job of supermarket cashier is 'prestigious' and a refuse collector is 'well paid' ... While 'l'exception francaise' may still mean something to those in the middle, there is little sign of it in the world documented by Aubenas. Perhaps she has hit on the exception to the exception." "This personal account of the unmaking of the French working class is not only great journalism, it is a true work of literature: beautifully written, intense, unforgettable." "Follow Florence Aubenas into the armies of the night, among the invisible souls who clean up the mess we make by day, absorb her insights into the great recession and its impact on the most marginal." "Too often, the impact of the global recession is reduced to general statistics. But in Florence Aubenas' provocative and passionate book it is captured in exquisite detail, emotion, and human faces. Whether in Cairo, Caen, or Wisconsin, the desperation that accompanies the soul-destroying search for work and economic stability continues to push people to the brink of their patience and dignity. What makes Aubenas' book so brilliant is that this culmination of her undercover investigation does not simply linger on their lack of hope, but also on the depth of their spirit." "A vivid account of the insecurities and indignities of trying to cobble together a living from the part-time, temporary jobs of the West's postindustrial economy. The insufficient hours, abrupt layoffs, and inadequate wages Aubenas describes so clearly will be with us long after the current global recession ends." "Recommended for those wanting to understand more about what it means to be on the bread line."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/01/flexible-work-grinding-down-women-stress"
The Guardian
London Review of Books
Katha Pollitt, The Nation
Beatrix Campbell, author of Wigan Pier Revisited
Nomi Prins, author of It Takes a Pillage
Stephanie Coontz, author of The Way We Really Are: Coming to Terms with America's Changing Families
New Times
The idea was simple: pack a suitcase, go to another city where you have no connections and try to find a job, anonymously. That was the idea that took Florence Aubenas - one of France's most Day after day she searched for work, one unemployed worker among others, with no special skills or qualifications. She immersed herself in the crowd of job seekers, going from one employment office to For many people the global financial crisis seems real enough but remote from their daily lives. They have little sense of what it really means to be unemployed in the midst of a recession. Florence Aubenas was determined to find out. This book is the story of her The Night Cleaner became an instant number one bestseller in France and has subsequently become a bestseller in many countries throughout the world. Better than any academic treatise on the topic, this book shows what recession means today.
accomplished undercover journalists - on a journey into the worst recession since the Great Depression.
another, eventually managing to cobble together a few hours working as a night cleaner on a ferry that crossed the English Channel.
journey.
Preface vii 1 Scraping the Barrel 1 2 A Rush Job 13 3 A Lunch 25 4 The Beast 35 5 The Maid 47 6 The Advert 58 7 The Toilets 70 8 Teeth 81 9 The White Horse 95 10 The Union 107 11 The Leaving Party 116 12 The Barbecue Section 130 13 Passions 141 14 The Gang of Morons 152 15 The Picnic 164 16 The Spider's Web 178 17 The Job Train 194 18 The ZAC 206 19 Mimi 219 20 The Permanent Job 231 Acknowledgements 244
Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP]
