Abstract
In an article reflecting on the announcement that Phillip Levine was appointed the nation’s poet laureate, the Economist noted that his “early poems are cutting, despairing accounts of the type of futile, life-draining work that lacks dignity and purpose.” Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said in a statement, “His plainspoken lyricism has, for half a century, championed the art of telling ‘The Simple Truth’—about the hard work we do to make sense of our lives.” The accolades for Levine would hold true for a lot of the works collected in the extensive anthology Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking out the Jams.
There are 151 individual literary entries sprawled across 470 pages. Sections of the book are divided into “labor poems and songs,” “short fiction,” and “nonfiction, histories, and memories.” Contributors range from Levine (four pieces) to Clifford Odets to Dorothy Day to Bob Dylan (three songs). The value of an encyclopedic book like this one is that readers get a flavor for how writers have told their personal stories of working-class existence through multiple literary forms. The poems, songs, and stories are meant not just to celebrate the written form but also to speak to the importance of how creative writing contributes to the lives of the poor and working class. Many pieces within this volume depict physical labor, but there are also ones that capture the relationships under stress in working-class families and that address an assortment of problems that grow out of having to cope with unfavorable working conditions.
Working Words would be a very flexible resource for labor educators who teach both credit and noncredit classes. Students in undergraduate labor studies credit courses would have access to an anthology dedicated to all genres of literature dealing with working-class experience. Here the editor is filling a void. Students, particularly, workers in noncredit classes, would become “scholars,” and with the knowledge transmitted through introspective literary mediums, the editor imagines that they would never or any longer be “under their bosses’ thumbs” (Introduction).
The language we use has proven to be a powerful weapon against injustice. Despite the impressive size and breath of this book, to be honest, it will not appeal to everyone’s taste. Books of poetry and short stories are not designed to appeal to everyone at the same time. For each reader, poetry and prose trigger a very subjective, sometimes even incoherent, response. Expressive writing either “works” for the reader or it does not. In my lay opinion (all that anyone can offer by way of judgment), a great deal in this volume works.
Poems by Albert Aubert, Maggie Anderson, Thomas Lux, M. L. Liebler, and Joseph Millar and a short story by Jim Ray Daniels are particularly effective offerings. None works better for me, however, than Jan Beatty’s poem, “A Waitress’ Instructions on Tipping or Get the Cash up and Don’t Waste My Time.” It is smash-mouth poetry and a ton of fun to read out loud. I also found that for me, a lot of the entries did not work as well. Some selections seemed out of place, and while Dylan’s songwriting is evocative, I did not find reading his words on paper anywhere near as satisfying as reading Larry Smith’s story “Outside the Millgate.” But that is the beauty of creative writing. Nobody will like it all, but everybody will like something.