My wife and I were lying in bed, watching a CNN update on the Kobe earthquake. The newscaster, Bernard Shaw, said that the body of an American woman had just been found. June gasped, then quickly covered her mouth.
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‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
‘You don’t understand. The country where I used to live is now gone.’
‘How is it possible we lived in that same house? Although every house in that neighborhood looked more or less alike.’ A story by Kate Zambreno.
‘I wondered how I could feel so at home in a place that was not mine.’
An excerpt from Jessica Au's novel Cold Enough for Snow.
An excerpt from Earthlings, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori.
