This book is outstanding and timely. The COVID pandemic brought brief attention to essential workers, including those who work in environements such as slaughter houses and prisons that most Americans would prefer to not think about. In Dirty Work, Eyal Press introduces us to some of the individuals whose work causes harm to other people, non-human animals, or the environment but is nonetheless essential to our country. In addition to prison guards and meat processors, the reader is introduced to military drone operators, oil rig workers, and Google employees who work on projects that demonstrate why Google removed "Don't be evil" from its corporate code of conduct.

Rather than focus on the harm done by dirty work (there are plenty of books for that), Press writes with compassion about the harm the work inflicts on those who do it, and how it affects those around them.

Essential reading for anyone interested in inequality and the impact of the consumer.

Share/Like this Review?