But After The Gig

When the "sharing economy" launched a decade ago, proponents claimed that it would transform the experience of work -- giving earners flexibliitiy, autonomy, and a decent income. But this novel form of work soon sprouted a dark side: exploited Uber drivers, neighborhoods ruined by Airbnb, racial discrimination, and rising carbon emissions. Several of the most prominent platforms are now faced with existential crises as they prioritize growth over fairness and long-term viability. Based on nearly a decade of pioneering research, After the Gig dives into what went wrong with this contemporary reimagining of labor. The book examines multiple types of data from thirteen cases to identify the unique features and potential of sharing platforms that prior research has failed to pinipoint

“An engaging, humorous, revealing, and refreshingly human look at the bizarre, life-threatening, and delightfully humdrum exploits of everyone from sports heroes to sex workers.” -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of Coercion, Ecstasy Club, and Media Virus This wide-ranging survey of the American economy at the turn of the millennium is stunning, surprising, and always entertaining. It gives us an unflinching view of the fabric of this country from the point of view of the people who keep it all moving. The more than 120 roughly textured monologues that make up Gig beautifully capture the voices of our fast-paced and diverse economy. The selections demonstrate how much our world has changed--and stayed the same--in the three decades prior to the turn of the millennium. If you think things have speeded up, become more complicated and more technological, you're right. But people's attitudes about their jobs, their hopes and goals and disappointments, endure. Gig's soul isn't sociological--it's emotional. The wholehearted diligence that people bring to their work is deeply, inexplicably moving. People speak in these pages of the constant and complex stresses nearly all of them confront on the job, but, nearly universally, they throw themselves without reservation into coping with them. Instead of resisting work, we seem to adapt to it. Some of us love our jobs, some of us don't, but almost all of us are not quite sure what we would do without one. With all the hallmarks of another classic on this subject, Gig is a fabulous read, filled with indelible voices from coast to coast. After hearing them, you'll never again feel quite the same about how we work.

"WORST GIG is Music Appreciation 225, taught by that cool professor everyone wanted to have beers with after class. One fun nugget after another. It was harder to close than my Twitter app."—Matthew James, McSweeney's "Tawdry tales of concert catastrophes!"—Buzzfeed "Musicians' 'Worst Gig' makes for best read ever."—Salon What is the worst show you've ever played? Sometimes the worst shows inspire the best stories. After hundreds of interviews with national headliners and beloved indie acts alike, entertainment journalist Jon Niccum has crafted a collection that chronicles the most embarrassing, most hilarious and most insane live show moments ever. THE WORST GIG features outrageous stories from stars such as Wilco, Def Leppard, Tenacious D, Rush, John Mayer, and The Sex Pistols. Be it nature's wrath, equipment breakdowns or even military intervention, get the wild scoop on what really happened, straight from the artists themselves.

From the author of the acclaimed Roll with It comes a moving novel about a girl with a sensory processing disorder who has to find her own voice after her whole world turns upside down. Lou Montgomery has the voice of an angel, or so her mother tells her and anyone else who will listen. But Lou can only hear the fear in her own voice. She’s never liked crowds or loud noises or even high fives; in fact, she’s terrified of them, which makes her pretty sure there’s something wrong with her. When Lou crashes their pickup on a dark and snowy road, child services separate the mother-daughter duo. Now she has to start all over again at a fancy private school far away from anything she’s ever known. With help from an outgoing new friend, her aunt and uncle, and the school counselor, she begins to see things differently. A sensory processing disorder isn’t something to be ashamed of, and music might just be the thing that saves Lou—and maybe her mom, too.

The book covers the life and times of Terry Dobson... As the drummer of chart topping band Black Lace, Terry toured extensively throughout the UK, Europe and the former Iron Curtain countries during 1969-1980.UK TV appearances include,Top of the Pops Juke box Jury, Noel Edmonds Swap Shop,the BBC's Nationwide news program and the making of the bands first pop video as prequel to the 1979 Eurovision song contest... Terry has appeared in numerous TV pop shows throughout Europe.Spain, Bulgaria, France, Denmark, Poland, East & West Germany and the Shetland Isles.Terry talks about his early school days, life on a large council estate, playing drums in working mens clubs and summer seasons in Skegness and Filey 1976 & 1977...also performances with the stars of the day during his semi professional and professional career...and the effect playing in a band had on his family. Love, lust and the meeting and divorce of 3 wives... his lovely children, Helen, Kerry, Warren, and Ashley...the sad death of his partner, the raising of his youngest son Liam, now aged 7...but just a few days away from his 4th birthday when his mummy, Tricia, tragically died as a result of an asthma attack on one of the hottest days in July 2006 aged just 47. The good and bad times, the happy and the sad...The success of Black Lace the band and phenominal success of the Black Lace duo.Terry's time playing the drums in other semi and professional bands, the sad deaths of Alan Barton (Black Lace & Smokie).Mick Brassington (Method & Stormer) Richard Chappell (former Wakefield theatre club lighting man), and roadie for all the bands Terry has worked with. Also with very little information to hand Terry records the events leading up to a very long and frustrating search for his biological father.

In Temporary, a young woman’s workplace is the size of the world. She fills increasingly bizarre placements in search of steadiness, connection, and something, at last, to call her own. Whether it’s shining an endless closet of shoes, swabbing the deck of a pirate ship, assisting an assassin, or filling in for the Chairman of the Board, for the mythical Temporary, “there is nothing more personal than doing your job.” This riveting quest, at once hilarious and profound, will resonate with anyone who has ever done their best at work, even when the work is only temporary.