A review by anarcho_zymurgist
Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line by Ben Hamper

funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.25

A reasonably enjoyable and illuminating memoir, depicting the experiences of an assembly line worker in the automobile industry. It shows in particular the contrast to working in that industry during Reagan's presidency to before it. I enjoyed the exposition of the book more than a good portion of the rest. It was oddly fascinating to read about Hamper's life growing up, someone I had previously never heard of, and his reluctance to go into this career. Seeing what working the assembly line had done to break his father and father before him, and the rest of the family by extent, he vowed he wouldn't carry on the tradition. The inevitability of the assembly line however, prevailed. The climax of the book took me by surprise. It was quite sad to see and in hindsight, probably all too frequent for people working these jobs. The frequent use of humor was hit or miss for me, and is noticeably dated. As a pleasant surprise, Michael Moore wrote the foreword and appears in the book periodically.