The New York Times Book Review - Mimi Swartz
…thick with rich characters, family secrets and backwoods wisdom…Macy's passion and enthusiasm are palpable on every page…her chronicle of this quest is important because she makes a complex, now universal story understandable. Macy cares about ordinary Americans in the same way Bassett does, and in the same way so many Wall Street players and corporate shareholders do not.
The New York Times - Janet Maslin
Beth Macy…understood how lucky she was when she accidentally uncovered the great, gripping story told in Factory Man. This is Ms. Macy's first book, but it's in a class with other runaway debuts like Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit and Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers: These nonfiction narratives are more stirring and dramatic than most novels. And Ms. Macy writes so vigorously that she hooks you instantly. You won't be putting this book down.
author of Dewey and Until Tuesday Bret Witter
John Bassett's story has everything. An extraordinary dynasty, a relevant and inspiring message, and one of the best heroes I've read about in years. It works on every level, from the most personal betrayal to the realities of the global economy, from the struggle of one worker in a small Appalachian town to the future of our cultural as a whole. Part of me wishes I'd found John Bassett III, because this is powerful stuff, but it's obvious the story is in excellent hands with Beth Macy. Sometimes the right writer comes along with the right story at the right time. This is clearly that book.
Success Magazine Margaret Jaworski
Spirited, meticulously researched and well-written.... A page-turning tale that covers the company's history, family squabbles and the black-sheep son who rescued the company through pluck, persistence and political wrangling.
author of The Legal Limit Martin Clark
Beth Macy sees twists and subtleties that other journalists can't see, and she writes about the world around her with grit, honesty and remarkable grace. She has a police detective's diligence and determination, a poet's way with words, and a born storyteller's gift for spot-on narrative.
San Francisco Chronicle
A truly remarkable work of researched narrative nonfiction…a book that leaves you feeling better for having read it.”
New York Times
[Macy] has found a terrifically rich subject for her investigative reporting…They give out awards for this kind of thing.”
AudioFile
Kristin Kalbli’s pleasant narration guides the listener through the ins and outs of the Bassetts’ story…Kalbli’s use of accents to portray Bassett family members and other locals helps to set the scene.”
New York Times Janet Maslin
In a class with other runaway debuts like Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit" and Katherine Boo's "Behind the Beautiful Forevers": These nonfiction narratives are more stirring and dramatic than most novels. And Ms. Macy writes so vigorously that she hooks you instantly. You won't be putting this book down.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Most They Eve Rick Bragg
In a world of blue-collar victims, where logging chains seal forever the doors of mills and factories from the Rust Belt to the Deep South, Beth Macy's award-winning look at one furniture maker's refusal to give in is a breath of hope-and a damn fine story to read. The book tracks John Bassett's fight to keep American jobs on this side of borders and oceans, and keeps one American town from becoming a place of empty storefronts and FOR SALE signs.
author of Michael Jordan Roland Lazenby
I've been reading Beth Macy for years. She is a great American writer. She sees everything, all the precious detail. A few years back, as the world was collapsing around us, she did a story on the temp who was answering phones at a hotline for those in financial hot water. The temp was this immense hero in all these ways that nobody else would have ever recognized. Of course, Macy never called her a hero. She just let the story do the work.
Booklist
Macy’s down-to-earth writing style and abundance of personal stories… make her work a stirring critique of globalization.”
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
A masterly feat of reporting.”
author of The Center Holds: Obama and His Enem Jonathan Alter
Beth Macy has done a masterful job in personalizing the biggest American economic story of our time—how to save American jobs in the 21st Century. John Bassett III is a cinematic figure and quintessential American, battling for his company, his town and his country.
Kirkus (starred review)
The author's brightly written, richly detailed narrative not only illuminates globalization and the issue of offshoring, but succeeds brilliantly in conveying the human costs borne by low-income people displaced from a way of life.... A masterly feat of reporting.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Bragg
A damn fine story.”
author of Guests on Earth Lee Smith
The epic struggle of Virginia furniture manufacturer John Bassett III (JBIII) to save his business has given crackerjack reporter Beth Macy the book she was born to write. Longtime champion of the downtrodden and the working American, Macy brings globalization down to a human scale, giving a real voice and a recognizable face to everyone involved, from factory worker to government official to Chinese importer. Thorough reporting and brilliant writing combine to make FACTORY MAN an exciting, fast-paced account of a quintessentially American story that affects us all.
Garden & Gun
In a compelling and meticulously researched narrative, Macy follows the story from the Blue Ridge Mountains to China and Indonesia, chronicling [John] Bassett's tireless work to revive his company, and with it, an American town.
Library Journal
Macy, herself the daughter of an assembly-line worker, offers a well-researched title that reads like a novel, with plenty of juicy characters and dialog.”
Alex Jones
The unlikely hero of Factory Man is a determined, ornery, and absolutely indomitable...business man. He's the head of a family furniture company and damned if he's going to be pushed around. Beth Macy has given us an inspiring and engaging tale for our times, but not the expected one.
New York Times bestselling author Bret Witter
John Bassett’s story has everything. An extraordinary dynasty, a relevant and inspiring message, and one of the best heroes I’ve read about in years.”
Booklist Carl Hays
Macy's down-to-earth writing style and abundance of personal stories from manufacturing's beleaguered front lines make her work a stirring critique of globalization.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Macy’s riveting narrative is rich in local color…Vivid reporting.”
The Roanoker Kurt Rheinheimer
A triumph.... Get Factory Man and take your time with it. It's a big ol' delicious toasted sandwich of a book.
DesignSponge
It's a must-read just for its look at what happens at home when we send jobs overseas and how we all play a role. This one is a page-turner.
From the Publisher
"A bracing saga.... Macy is an engaging writer."—Michael Boodro, Elle Decor
"It's a must-read just for its look at what happens at home when we send jobs overseas and how we all play a role. This one is a page-turner."—DesignSponge
"A triumph.... Get Factory Man and take your time with it. It's a big ol' delicious toasted sandwich of a book."—Kurt Rheinheimer, The Roanoker
"I've been reading Beth Macy for years. She is a great American writer. She sees everything, all the precious detail. A few years back, as the world was collapsing around us, she did a story on the temp who was answering phones at a hotline for those in financial hot water. The temp was this immense hero in all these ways that nobody else would have ever recognized. Of course, Macy never called her a hero. She just let the story do the work."—Roland Lazenby, author of Michael Jordan
Beth Macy "got the story of a lifetime. And she wrote this book in the "Seabiscuit" tradition, combining the power of truth-that's-stranger-than-fiction with the colorful verve of a novel."—Janet Maslin, New York Times
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2014-06-15
The story of one man’s fight to save American furniture manufacturing jobs in the face of a deluge of cheap Chinese imports.In this welcome debut, winner of the 2013 J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award,Roanoke Timesreporter Macy brings to life the rise of family-owned Bassett Furniture Company as the world’s largest producer of wooden furniture and John Bassett III’s epic struggle to keep his company in business amid unfair overseas business practices that forced many U.S. manufacturers to move their factories abroad. A brash, patriotic charmer fond of quoting George Patton (“When in doubt, ATTACK”), Bassett came from a long line of wealthy Virginians with “sawdust” in their veins. “The ‘fucking Chi-Comms’ were not going to tellhimhow to make furniture!” remarked one retailer. Drawing on prodigious research and interviews with a wide range of subjects, including babysitters, retired workers and Chinese executives, Macy recounts how Bassett, now in his mid-70s, mobilized the majority of American furniture manufacturers to join him in seeking U.S. government redress for unfair Chinese trade practices. The author’s brightly written, richly detailed narrative not only illuminates globalization and the issue of offshoring, but succeeds brilliantly in conveying the human costs borne by low-income people displaced from a way of life—i.e., factory jobs that their Appalachian families had worked for generations. Writing with much empathy, Macy gives voice to former workers who must now scrape by on odd jobs, disability payments and, in some cases, thievery of copper wire from closed factories. Her book is also a revealing account of the paternalistic Bassett dynasty, whose infighting was a constant diversion for everyone living in the company town. Ultimately, Bassett’s efforts saved some 700 jobs and his Vaughan-Bassett company, the nation’s largest wood bedroom furniture maker.A masterly feat of reporting.
