When it first appeared in hardcover, Which Side Are You On? received widespread critical accolades, and was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. In this new paperback edition, Thomas Geoghegan has updated his eloquent plea for the relevance of organized labor in America with an afterword covering the labor movement through the 1990s.
A funny, sharp, unsentimental career memoir, Which Side Are You On? pairs a compelling history of the rise and near-fall of labor in the United States with an idealist's disgruntled exercise in self-evaluation. Writing with the honesty of an embattled veteran still hoping for the best, Geoghegan offers an entertaining, accessible, and literary introduction to the labor movement, as well as an indispensable touchstone for anyone whose hopes have run up against the unaccommodating facts on the ground. Wry and inspiring, Which Side Are You On? is the ideal book for anyone who has ever woken up and realized, "You must change your life."
Author Biography: Thomas Geoghegan's essays and commentary have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Nation, the New Republic, the New York Times, Slate, and the Washington Post, among other publications. His other books are The Secret Lives of Citizens and In America's Court. Geoghegan is a practicing attorney in Chicago.
Tom Geoghegan was at Harvard Law School when he had his first brush with organized labor, as dissident coal miners sought to wrest their union from the grip of a corrupt leadership. He emerged with a firm commitment to the worker--and a keen eye for the ironies of his chosen career. Now he creates a portrait of labor under siege in the 1980s.
| 1 | Solidarity | 3 |
| 2 | Mountains of the moon | 9 |
| 3 | Before the lean years | 40 |
| 4 | In the heart of basic steel | 59 |
| 5 | Always bring a crowd | 84 |
| 6 | Rank and file | 122 |
| 7 | In the cage | 137 |
| 8 | Officers and lawyers | 161 |
| 9 | Life in the theater | 182 |
| 10 | Free trade | 204 |
| 11 | Bread and wine | 231 |
| 12 | Citizens | 251 |
| 13 | To the Medinah temple | 276 |
Overview
When it first appeared in hardcover, Which Side Are You On? received widespread critical accolades, and was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. In this new paperback edition, Thomas Geoghegan has updated his eloquent plea for the relevance of organized labor in America with an afterword covering the labor movement ...