The Corrosion of Character The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism

<b>A <i>Business Week</i> Best Book of the Year.... "A devastating and wholly necessary book."—Studs Terkel, author of <i>Working</i> </b><br><br>In <i>The Corrosion of Character</i>, Richard Sennett, "among the country's most distinguished thinkers . . . has concentrated into 176 pages a profoundly affecting argument" (<i>Business Week</i>) that draws on interviews with dismissed IBM executives, bakers, a bartender turned advertising executive, and many others to call into question the terms of our new economy. In his 1972 classic, <i>The Hidden Injuries of Class</i> (written with Jonathan Cobb), Sennett interviewed a man he called Enrico, a hardworking janitor whose life was structured by a union pay schedule and given meaning by his sacrifices for the future. In this new book-a #1 bestseller in Germany-Sennett explores the contemporary scene characterized by Enrico's son, Rico, whose life is more materially successful, yet whose work lacks long-term commitments or loyalties. Distinguished by Sennett's "combination of broad historical and literary learning and a reporter's willingness to walk into a store or factory [and] strike up a conversation" (<i>New York Times Book Review</i>), this book "challenges the reader to decide whether the flexibility of modern capitalism . . . is merely a fresh form of oppression" (<i>Publishers Weekly</i>, starred review). Praise for <i>The Corrosion of Character</i>: "A benchmark for our time."—Daniel Bell "[A]n incredibly insightful book."—William Julius Wilson "[A] remarkable synthesis of acute empirical observation and serious moral reflection."—Richard Rorty "[Sennett] offers abundant fresh insights . . . illuminated by his concern with people's struggle to give meaning to their lives."—[Memphis] <i>Commercial Appeal</i>