What are some books about people who work shit jobs?
I'm tired of reading about sailors exploring the high sea and aristocrats inheriting mysterious country estates
I want a book about a guy who works at the local Shell or sells phones at a mall kiosk
pic related. Carver worked some shit jobs in his time and so did his characters
George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London (nonfiction) and Keep the Aspidistra Flying (fiction) are bretty gud for this.
Also look into Bukowski, Houllebecq, maybe Celine (Journey to the End of the Night).
The recognitions or J R
>Houllebecq
he's a self-insert writer in like half of his books, but this is still a good suggestion
try Tropic of Cancer
The Pale King fits the bill too.
Definitely Bukowski's post office.
Last Exit To Brooklyn
Light in August by Faulkner
Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
The Origin of the Brunists by Robert Coover
Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
Pretty much anything by Steinbeck
Most black literature (e.g. Ellison, Wright, Hughes)
Most beat writers
Orwell also wrote road to wigan pier in which he describes the conditions in the English coal mines of the day. For the second half of the book he goes on to outline the reasons why socialism wasn't being taken up by the masses. The qualilty of this second half, I think, is quite patchy but there are some good nuggets of thought in there.
He also rips on the middle and upper classes a shit load. You sound like you might enjoy it.
Yeah man, Orwellposter here, it is good to see another indepth Orwell enthusiast.
I think I have read just about everything he ever wrote including essays and newspaper columns. On top of the quality of his subjectmatter, I love his his authorial voice. Very distinct, bit of humour, bit of pathos, but always clear and precise.
Also I am a DemSoc/LibSoc, so his politics is pretty spot-on.
In Dubious Battle.
I wanted to mention Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck but then again he doesn't present farmwork as inherently shitty but rather the working conditions forced upon the workers by the employer. Actually working manual labor is based and can lead to happiness if you're working for yourself and are not getting ripped off.
Additionally I second Journey to the End of the Night, especially the Ford chapters.
>self-insert author
I'm so sick of you faggots speaking in memes.
If by """"""self-insert author""""", you mean an author who incorporates his life into his works or has a character who resembles himself, then you sure as fuck shouldn't be recommending Henry Miller because he fits that retarded criteria.
Friendly reminder to Sage in all fields.
my zine, desu
bukowski, desu
a fan's notes
s.r.o.
Sexus, Plexus, and Nexus by Henry Miller.
bukowski
joyce (thinking specifically about dubliners here)
coupland (his characters are middle class and comfortable i suppose but theyre still working boring jobs and still filled with existential dread)
Try Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. About a shitty fisherman in shitty Tennessee.
What's your favorite out of everything he did? Is Burmese Days worth a go?
Last Night At The Lobster
Breece Pancake mostly wrote about coal miners and gas station attendants
Richard Yates usually wrote about office drones
Richard Russo mostly writes about construction guys
Russell Banks is another blue collar writer. I think several of his characters are plumbers or steamfitters.
Richard Price's Bloodbrothers has some pretty funny and some pretty brutal scenes with electricians
Pete Dexter's God's Pocket is about construction guys
Joe by Larry Brown is about a tree planter
The main character in The Sand Pebbles is a mechanic on a gunboat in China just as the Nationalist revolution is starting, He doesn't care much for the military side of being in the Navy but his love of running the ship's engine is a bit infectious.
kys, desu
All of Steinbeck.
Brother. Fred Ex should be a monster here. Once gave it to a girl who's since become an accomplished editor and everytime she sees me (rarely) she tells me that she wishes she could dismiss it from her consciousness....
Great book.
Formerly Chuck's Fexus and Sexus
Good post. I'll add Sam Pink for a contemporary outlook.
Kmart realism.
George saunders
There needs to be more writing on chain retail workers. Theyre the biggest class group now
Read Thom Jones
the gum thief by douglas coupland
the two main characters work at staples
Contemporary Steinbeck.
He wrote another book that is more appropriate to OP's inquiry, Down and Out in Paris and London.
I found it intolerably boring but that's just me.
Houellebecq is literally a character in La carte et le territoire; one of the protagonists in Les Particules elementaires, and the protagonist of Plateforme are named Michel. The jobs of his protags include: scientist, computer scientist, author, professor, etc. These are not the sorts of jobs OP was talking about, but Houellebecq does put the drudgery of these people on display.
Henry Miller, on the other hand, actually works 'shit' jobs throughout Tropic of Cancer, and is writing about things that happened irl.
please think twice before making such worthless posts in the future
My diary dedu.
Oops it was already mentioned. I should read the threads I post in.
>Light in August by Faulkner
>Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
>Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
>Pretty much anything by Steinbeck
>Most black literature
Invisible man, son.
>beat writers
don't
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell.