Men at Work Rediscovering Depression Era Stories from the Federal Writers Project 1st Edition by Matthew Basso 9781607812104 160781210X

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Product details:

ISBN 10: 160781210X

ISBN 13: 9781607812104

Author: Matthew Basso

As part of Roosevelt’s New Deal program of the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided relief jobs to millions of Americans. One facet of the WPA was the hiring of men and women to document the history and folklore of America so as to capture the “soul” of the nation. While researching at the Montana Historical Society Research Center more than a decade ago, historian Matthew Basso stumbled upon copies of six stories that had been submitted for inclusion in a volume titled Men at Work.They arrived too late to be considered. Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) staff had already chosen thirty-four stories from submissions across the country and the volume was nearing publication. In the end, however, that publication was waylaid by the eruption of World War II and the manuscript was forgotten. Now, Basso is bringing these rediscovered stories to their intended audience—the American people.

Works of fiction that have a creative nonfiction feel, these narratives stem from direct observation of or participation in the work described and offer portraits of Americans from diverse ethnic backgrounds who labored in jobs as varied as logging, mining, fruit packing, and rodeo riding. The writers, directed by editor Harold Rosenberg, also represent a variety of backgrounds and experience. Some, like Jack Conroy, Jim Thompson, and Chester Himes, became strong voices in the literary world. The vivid accounts in Men at Work illuminate the meaning of work during a time when jobs were scarce and manual labor highly valued. With our country once again in financial crisis and workers facing an anemic job market, today’s readers will find these stories especially poignant.

Table of contents:

Section I: Times Have Changed

• Chapter 1: Drift Miner

• Chapter 2: Logging in the Rain

• Chapter 3: Save the Peavies

• Chapter 4: The Fish are Running

• Chapter 5: Wild Bill

• Chapter 6: The Boomer Fireman’s Fast Sooner Hound

• Chapter 7: Mules Ain’t Jackasses

• Chapter 8: The Driller

• Chapter 9: “Snake” Magee and the Rotary Boiler

• Chapter 10: Sade Duggett

• Chapter 11: Discontinued Model

• Chapter 12: The Type Louse

Section II: Time Stands Still

• Chapter 13: Basílico Garduño, New Mexican Sheepherder

• Chapter 14: A Tabaquero Talks

• Chapter 15: Navaho Trader

• Chapter 16: An Organ Builder’s Soliloquy

Section III: Modern Times

Part One: The Producers

• Chapter 17: Anaconda

• Chapter 18: Cannery Row

• Chapter 19: The Fruit Packers

• Chapter 20: Still Operator

• Chapter 21: Pogy Boat

• Chapter 22: Shingletown

• Chapter 23: Mine Timekeeper

• Chapter 24: Greedy-Gut Gus, The Car Toad

• Chapter 25: San Francisco Longshore Gang

Part Two: Selling the Public

• Chapter 26: Tobacco Auctioneer

• Chapter 27: Pay Dirt

• Chapter 28: Slappy Hooper, World’s Biggest, Fastest, and Bestest Sign Painter

Part Three: The Artists

• Chapter 29: Jazz Music: Chicago Style

• Chapter 30: Everything’s Dangerous

• Chapter 31: Soup Circuit

• Chapter 32: Sven, The Hundred Proof Irishman

Part Four: For the Future

• Chapter 33: Salmon for the Columbia

• Chapter 34: The Shipyards Get a Welder

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Tags: Matthew Basso, Work, Rediscovering, Depression, Federal