Speaking Volumes

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SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

Working Life Part Two

The term working stiffs is slang for the working class and no where can you find better examples of all those poor souls and their jobs than in fiction. Consider Elaine Viets Dead End Mystery Series, where each title features another boring, unappreciated job; salesclerk, survey taker, telemarketer, dog caterer in a boutique, mystery shopper, wedding gown salesperson. Can you imagine that Elaine Viets has actually worked most of these jobs!

It seems no job is left undone in fiction. Most of us are familiar with Janet Evanovich's character, Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter but how about Londoner Eva Wylie, a professional wrestler, junkyard security guard in Liza Cody's Bucket Nut? Donna Andrew's Murder With Peacocks, stars amateur detective, Meg Langslow who is a blacksmith. And Elizabeth Lowell's A Woman Without Lies features a stained glass artisan. And in another Lowell novel, Valley of the Sun, the hero is a water douser. John Rain is an assassin for hire in the popular books by Barry Eisler. Nevada Barr's heroine is Anna Pigeon, Park Ranger and Barbara Neeley has cleaning woman Blanche in her hilarious novels. Forensic Pathologists abound as evidenced by Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta, Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhymes, Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan and Karin Slaughter's, Dr. Sara Linton to name a few. Even undertakers are fairly well represented on the printed page. Tim Cockney has a Hearse series with Hitchcock Sewell, Shrouded by Carol Anne Davis, Dark Undertakings by Rebecca Tope. And what could be stranger than Sheri Holman The Mammoth Cheese whose main character makes illegal gourmet cheese by hand which she sells to chefs in NYC.

Besides the few mentioned in the list above, amateur sleuths lend themselves well to odd day jobs. There are archaeologists, artists, actors, nurses, teachers, doctors, lawyers, policemen and women, fisherman, golfers, gardeners, nuns, priests, and even librarians who solve mysterious when they're not shelving books.

Romance authors give their characters a variety of occupations, some mundane and others unusual. The list includes, fireworks maker, rat catcher, asylum nurse, botanist, magicians, judges, strippers, psychics, UN translator, antique dealers, cosmetic camouflage, cosmetic surgeon, and even super heroes.

Ever wanted to join the circus? You'll find lots of books with a backdrop under the big top. Aerialist by Richard Schmitt is about Gary Ruden quits high school in 1969 and becomes a high-wire walker/aerialist. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen is about Jacob Jankowski whose initial goal to become a vet, is changed when his parents are killed in a tragic accident. Instead, he hops a circus train and joins that life. Rain Village by Carolyn Turgeon has a circus trapeze artist, Madeline is Sleeping by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum has a character who joins a gypsy circus, Circus in Winter by Cathy Day is all about the circus life and The Final Confession of Mable Stark by Robert Hough is about the greatest tiger trainer in history.

Upton Sinclair's classic The Jungle is an honest portrayal of Chicago's meatpacking business, and Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris is a perfect book about the workplace. Anne Tyler's Patchwork Planet has a character Barnaby Gaitlin works for "rent-a-back" doing chores for elderly customers.

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Comments

Megan Q. said, on Sep. 2 at 2:17PM
Wow, Carol! You may be the only person I know who WAS thinking of work on Labor Day! Although, it really is interesting to sit back and think about the origin of different holidays. I have to say Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by In America, by Barbara Ehrenreich, is one of my favorite books on working life. If nothing else pick it up to get insiders info on how Wal-Mart tries to keep its employees “enthused.” Your post also made me think of two books I have picked up over the past few months that give a glimpse into other professions. I recently read The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro, in which the novel's narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler. And, I am now listening to the book Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach, and although it is mainly about what happens to human bodies after death, it does include a lot of information on being a mortician, surgeon, medical examiner, and more. This is the first audio book I have checked out from the Saxton B. and even though it is a little gory for the morning drive to work, I am enjoying it. I just make sure to roll up my windows when I am going through the drive through at Dunkin Donuts- lest they overhear something from Chapter 10 entitled, “Medicinal Cannibalism and the Case of the Human Dumplings…” One last book I just have to mention, seeing that you specifically listed books on the circus, is Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn. I had to read this book in a college course, and although it is one of the most bizarre and dark books I’ve ever read, I did like it. In the novel, two parents, Art and Lily, owners of Binewski's Fabulon, a traveling carnival, decide to breed their own freak show by creating genetically altered children through the use of experimental drugs. Now THAT’S a wild circus story for you!