No Shame in My Game: The Working Poor in the Inner City

“Powerful and poignant…. Newman’s message is clear and timely.” — The Philadelphia Inquirer

In No Shame in My Game , Harvard anthropologist Katherine Newman gives voice to a population for whom work, family, and self-esteem are top priorities despite all the factors that make earning a living next to impossible–minimum wage, lack of child care and health care, and a desperate shortage of even low-paying jobs. By intimately following the lives of nearly 300 inner-city workers and job seekers for two yearsin Harlem, Newman explores a side of poverty often ignored by media and politicians–the working poor.

The working poor find dignity in earning a paycheck and shunning the welfare system, arguing that even low-paying jobs give order to their lives. No Shame in My Game gives voice to a misrepresented segment of today’s society, and is sure to spark dialogue over the issues surrounding poverty, working and welfare.