OR Books To Launch ‘Not Working’ Project

By Maryann Yin 

OR Books will publish a new multimedia project called Not Working–author D.W. Gibson‘s book-length oral history with film and audio segments.

The video embedded above introduces the project. Gibson will travel around the United States and interview people who have been laid off during the recession. His subjects will range from hourly-wage earners to entrepreneurial executives.

Here’s more about the project: “[It] is a response to Studs Terkel’s seminal book Working, first published in 1972. Familiarity with Terkel’s book will absolutely enhance one’s interest in this project, but it is by no means a prerequisite. Not Working communicates on its own. By presenting the voices and faces of those affected, it reveals the Great American Recession not just as a set of statistics or a political debating point but as an intensely human tragedy that is sweeping the country.”