Limbo
by Alfred Lubrano · first published 2003
4mentions
2recommended by
2HN commenters
2011–2013first – last mentioned
100% recommend
This work of narrative nonfiction uncovers a cultural phenomenon, the limbo existence of people raised in blue-collar families, living white-collar lives. Its approach is threefold: first, the personal story of the author himself, a working-class kid from Brooklyn who crossed over to the middle class after attaining an Ivy League education; second, a distillation of thought about class and mobility from leading experts; and finally, and most importantly, the stories of more than 100 interviewees, all "Straddlers" struggling with the duality that exists in their workplace, their hearts, and the
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…feels to move from the working class to the upper-middle class in America. Your statement about being shamed for doing better than your parents represents one of the book's themes. http://www.amazon.com/Limbo-Blue-Collar-Roots-White-Collar-D... I am an oddity. Although I grew up in a blue collar town and my dad was a factory worker/janitor, all four of my grandparents had college degrees. So, I identified…
on “What Really Keeps Poor People Poor” ↗I haven't read that book. I recommend: Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams http://www.amazon.com/Limbo-Blue-Collar-Roots-White-Collar-D... EDIT to add: $25.52 for a Kindle book (Ain't No Makin' It)?! So the people who would be interested…
on “The Ivy League Was Another Planet” ↗I recommend Lubrano's book: Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047126376...
on “How rich kids already won the career game” ↗…talk about the kind of skywalking he's engaged in. Anyone from a blue-collar or lower-class background who does non-manual labor is automatically alienated from everyone and everything they knew. See Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams by Alfred Lubrano. http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047126376...
on “The Million Dollar Question” ↗