Life on the Line: One Woman's Tale of Work, Sweat, and Survival

By Solange De Santis

Book Overview

Just when Solange De Santis had achieved success and security in the white-collar world of journalism, she decided to leave it all to work on the line during the final year and a half of a General... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385489781
• ISBN13: 9780385489782
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Stands with the best works on working.

Solange De Santis was obviously not looking to "rip the lid off" assembly line work when she began either her experience at GM or her book. This is greatly to her credit. LIFE ON THE LINE does all readers the service of allowing them to make up their own minds. The author's point of view develops in the text at the same pace as her time passed on the line. Crisp and insightful, this book can stand with the best of writing on the subject. The twofold treat is that those with no "shopfloor" experience may come to value more highly those who toil, and those who work on the line may be able to understand that they can be recognized and appreciated by ones not standing next to them in the heat and din.Brava! From the author's brother.

Rich in detail and anecdote

How many Ivy-League educated journalists would be willing to break their backs and go work on the assembly line to relay this story authentically? Very few! This writer does, and so gets to know the tasks, the workers and the business of making vehicles from the most telling perspective of all. Thoroughly familiar with the corporate point of view from years of business writing, De Santis joins those people whose sweat and toil actually build our world. She gives us the private musings and dreams of hardworking folks who didn't get all the breaks in life that she did, and shows their courage and determination to survive the brutal decisions of an unfeeling corporation. It's sad that management just can't understand the rage of these people whose jobs have been given a death sentence for the sake of higher profits, yet who are expected to give 100% down to the last day. But their voices need to be heard.

An insightful look at the life of a line worker.

Ms.De Santis begins with the valid premise that the gulf between white-collar and blue-collar workers in widening, and that it's important for one group to understand the other. From there, she walks her readers through that life with an authenticity that only her real-life experience could provide. Interesting reading for anyone who cares about the present and future of manufacturing in North America.

An outstanding read

June 12, 1999 Title: Life on the Line Author: Solange De SantisAfter graduating from the highly touted Ivy schools with her master's degree in journalism and a BA in English, Solange De Santis toiled in a very successful white collared workplace. Her fascination though, with "the other side", "the blue collar workers" would somehow overpower all sanity and she would seek out employment in the bowls of the workforce. Her dreams of writing a book and her journalistic past are her rational for exploring her curiosities. Hiding her outstanding employment credentials, she lands an assembler job with General Motor's lisping Scarborough Van plant. Solange, nicknamed Sally by her line mates, would now have 18 months in which to "spy" and compile enough material on life within the plant, before being laid-off, along with its 2,700 strong population. This fascinating account of Sally's perseverance, and demanding requirements associated with manual labor, are truly astonishing. Pushing herself beyond physical limits she thought ever existed, she finds herself becoming attached to her co-workers, "a cog in the wheel". A strong bond develops with her work mates through common hardships somewhat like a "boot camp". Her vivid descriptions of the sites and sounds within the plant and the people she works with have clear images and sounds popping into my head. Her circle of friends, "from all woks of life", are so typical of the many groups within the plant. Reading through her book I find Sally dredging up raw nerve endings I thought were buried long ago, for I am one of the 2,700 employee's of the Scarborough Van Plant that devoted the better part of my working life, along with so many others, to that job, as one of Sally's co-workers, on a different shift, with a different circle of friends, only to find myself one day, writing my resume. This book should appeal to anyone looking for a realistic account of life within those "dark window factories", and the typical "labels" these people are saddled with. Bravo Sally, an outstanding read in contrast to your Wall Street journalism.

Really great, compassionate investigative reporting

De Santis brings to light a working world too often dismissed as "low class" or alien, but full of real people. Her descriptions of life on the assembly line are brutal and unforgettable. I would have liked to hear more about her personal life among the blue collar folks though, and to get to know her coworkers better. But a very great idea well-written. With guts