I like books that are exposes of sorts:
“Nickel and Dimed,” which detail’s an upper middle class journalist’s 2 years of working unskilled jobs to see what it’s like to try to live on 6 or 7 bucks an hour;
“Brothel,” in which some woman lived in a Nevada brothel on and off for about a year to investigate the world of legal prostitution …
stuff like that.
Does this genre have a name, and have you read anything good lately? Recommend me some books!
detail’s?
Must … preview … posts …
Amazon.com houses books much like these under “Sociology.” (Go to Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > General.)
Didn’t George Plimpton, who passed away recently, write a number of books pertaining to his experiences participating in different sports?
There was also a best seller a couple of years ago about a female journalist who went “undercover” as a housecleaner to see how the rich folks live. I can’t recall the title but it was something clever like “other people’s dirt” or something similar.
And the movie Donny Brasco was based on a book too.
Wish I could be more specific with this post but at least you’ve got something to start with.
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin fits the profile, too, but there’s a long tradition of women writing books like this, going back to Nellie Bly. These are collectively known as “sob sister” books.
:smack: How could I forget about Slaughterhouse by Gail A. Eisnitz. She did an espose on the meat/poultry industry that’s enough to make you a vegetarian overnight.
“Participatory journalism” is what it’s called, at least according to George Plimpton. Hunter S. Thompson did it for his book Hell’s Angels