cblanc3666's review
3.0
3.5 stars - an interesting premise, but it was not necessarily concisely delivered. I did feel that most digressions added something, but a good few didn’t feel as important
dawsonthehughes's review
4.0
At times I got lost and was confused as to how what was being discussed related to the overall argument of the book, but still this was an interesting book and I'm glad I read it.
giana_vitale's review against another edition
5.0
I learned so much from this book, I don't even know where to begin. Suffice to say it has revolutionized my perspective on the economy, wage labor, politics, productivity, and even my own fundamental moral values. I won't attempt to recount the incredibly in-depth analysis given by Graeber here, but I will say he explores every facet of "work". I learned about the history of work cycles, the evolution of humans' perception of time, the role of religion in the development of our modern conceptions of work, why meaningless work is so mentally and spiritually damaging, how our society has built itself around universal and constant employment, how politics (from both sides of the spectrum) have influenced the work cycle and our attitudes toward it, and so so so much more. This book came to me at just the time I needed it, too. Since I am graduating college soon, I've been doing a lot of contemplating on my future, what I want to do with my life, what I should prioritize accomplishing, and, above all, how I will make money while doing whatever it is I want to do. I was already questioning my prioritizes regarding immediately diving into the corporate world and chaining myself to a 40-hr work week and 2 weeks of vacation for the rest of my life, and this book provided me the safe space to explore and research these thoughts. I have a newfound ambition to make the most out of my life, not out of my work, which I can thank this book for encouraging. I cannot recommend this book enough. Read it, read it, read it.
rick2's review
4.0
A wonderful discussion of work, inherent worth, community, and general cultural trends around employment. About halfway in, I was worried that the whole book would be "tee hee, businessess are stupid, go teach underprivileged children so you can find meaning." But the second half nicely pivots into the deeper systematic issues surrounding the "Bullshit."
dracovulpini's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
thewallner's review
3.0
The thesis of this book was interesting - a unique perspective of the problems with our current version of capitalism, and the insufficiency of our checks on it. The book was an expansion of an essay that was published a few years prior. I haven’t read the essay, but given the redundancies throughout the book, I would imagine most people would probably get just as much from reading that. With all the extra space in this book, you’d think there would be a chance to explore this thesis through an intersectional framework, or explore who has access to the white collar “bullshit jobs” and how the system describes further entrenches existing racial and gender inequalities. Instead, the extra pages were mostly filled with anecdotes to help the reader understand the working definition of bullshit jobs. While many of the anecdotes often had the desired effect of making me angry at the system, there were much more than needed to make the point and in the latter half, I felt like I was finishing the book out of stubbornness more than anything else.
The thesis itself is compelling and will likely stick with me for a while, which is why I can’t go lower than a 3. But I would recommend reading the essay first (instead?).
The thesis itself is compelling and will likely stick with me for a while, which is why I can’t go lower than a 3. But I would recommend reading the essay first (instead?).
colin_cox's review
5.0
In a late capitalist epoch, the necessity of a job operates as a contradiction. It seems, now more than ever, jobs are essential, but most jobs are also precarious, poorly compensated, and, it seems, pointless. The pointlessness of many contemporary jobs is what Graber explores in Bullshit Jobs: A Theory. According to Graeber, for a job to have meaning, it must feel as such to the worker themselves. That is to say, if the worker believes their work to lack any meaning and necessity, if it functions in a meaningless and unnecessary way, then, well, it is, in fact, meaningless and unnecessary (i.e., bullshit). For example, Graeber writes, "A bullshit job is a form of paid employment that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence even though, as a part of the conditions of employment, the employee feels obligated to pretend that this is not the case." For clarity, Graeber differentiates between a bullshit job and a "shit job." Shit jobs are deeply exploitative, but unlike bullshit jobs, they are deeply necessary. This distinction matters because so many jobs are shit, yet these jobs are unquestionably necessary.
I like two things about this book. First, Bullshit Jobs: A Theory effectively explores a pervasive, systemic problem native to late capitalism. This book allows readers to understand better why capitalism is troubling, alienating, and exploitative. But second, Bullshit Jobs: A Theory prioritizes workers' feelings. That is to say, jobs, both good and bad, affect workers in a myriad of ways, and to move beyond capitalism, we must, in part, take workers' feelings seriously. We must understand how this economic system, but also the particular contours of this economic system, affect and act upon the worker.
I like two things about this book. First, Bullshit Jobs: A Theory effectively explores a pervasive, systemic problem native to late capitalism. This book allows readers to understand better why capitalism is troubling, alienating, and exploitative. But second, Bullshit Jobs: A Theory prioritizes workers' feelings. That is to say, jobs, both good and bad, affect workers in a myriad of ways, and to move beyond capitalism, we must, in part, take workers' feelings seriously. We must understand how this economic system, but also the particular contours of this economic system, affect and act upon the worker.
senpai_eeyore's review
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Overall I really enjoyed this book. I felt like it really tapped into what a lot of my anecdotal experience has been. However, the final chapter of the book sort of missed the mark to me. It felt like a tonal shift from conversations and observations to just miscellaneous thoughts that never truly arrive anywhere. However, a vast majority of the book is well worth the time and sort of gets away from “data driven analysis of the economy, and focuses more on the human experience albeit from a select sample of the population.