Nomadland

By Jessica Bruder

Subjects: Employment, Labor movement, united states, Economic Conditions, Working poor, Recreational vehicle living -- United States, Recreational vehicle living, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS, Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Human Geography, Retirees -- Employment -- United States, Retirees, Migrant labor, Retirement -- Economic aspects -- United States, Older people, employment, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economic Conditions, Older people, Working poor -- United States, New York Times reviewed, Van life -- United States, SOCIAL SCIENCE, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Human Geography, Economic aspects, Retirement, Casual labor, Migrant labor -- United States, Casual labor -- United States, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Classes & Economic Disparity, Van life, Older people -- Employment -- United States

Description: "From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon's CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming a growing community of nomads: migrant laborers who call themselves "workampers." In a secondhand vehicle she christens "Van Halen," Jessica Bruder hits the road to get to know her subjects more intimately. Accompanying her irrepressible protagonist, Linda May, and others, from campground toilet cleaning to warehouse product scanning to desert reunions, then moving on to the dangerous work of beet harvesting, Bruder tells a compelling, eye-opening tale of the dark underbelly of the American economy--one that foreshadows the precarious future that may await many more of us. At the same time, she celebrates the exceptional resilience and creativity of these quintessential Americans who have given up ordinary rootedness to survive. Like Linda May, who dreams of finding land on which to build her own sustainable "Earthship" home, they have not given up hope."--Jacket flap.