"...Lubrano is a great reporter...he has chosen here a great and often overlooked subject, the role of class in modern American society, and has produced a book rich with insight into both his own and all our lives..."
–Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down
A groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction
In the vein of Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, this powerful work of narrative nonfiction uncovers a cultural phenomenon–the limbo existence of people raised in blue-collar families, living white-collar lives. Its approach is threefold: first, the personal story of the author himself, a working-class kid from Brooklyn who crossed over to the middle class after attaining an Ivy League education; second, a distillation of thought about class and mobility from leading experts; and finally, and most importantly, the stories of more than 100 interviewees, all "Straddlers" struggling with the duality that exists in their workplace, their hearts, and their minds.
"In Limbo, people straddle two social zones.…The future is never assured when you come from a house of rough hands. There are many profound opinions in this major newspaperman’s reporting."
–Jimmy Breslin
Pulitzer Prize—winning journalist and author of The Short Sweet Dream of Eduardo Gutierrez
"If you have any bloodlines at all to the working class, you will recognize– and newly discover–yourself in Alfred Lubrano’s inspired book. Limbo brings to life the minefield crossover from the blue-collar world to the white-collar one in prose that is at once trout-stream clear and luminous. It’s the very American, real-as-a-streetfight story of a bricklayer’s son’s own uneasy journey out of Bensonhurst woven movingly with the journeys of a legion of other ‘Straddlers.’ Don’t pass this gem by."
–Sydney Schanberg
Pulitzer Prize—winning journalist and author of The Death and Life of Dith Pran
"Al Lubrano is a great reporter and the kind of writer whose work is infused with both thought and feeling. He has chosen here a great and often overlooked subject, the role of class in modern American society, and has produced a book rich with insight into both his own life and all our lives. If you are like me, you will nod your head with recognition throughout."
–Mark Bowden
author of Black Hawk Down and Killing Pablo
Table of Contents
Introduction.
1. Bricklayer’s Son: The Birth and Clash of Values.
2. Crawling Out of the Black Hole: The Pain of Transition.
3. The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts.
4. Culture Conflicts: First Encounters with the Upper Classes.
5. Going Home: An Identity Changed Forever.
6. Office Politics: The Blue-Collar Way.
7. Class, Love and Progeny: The Ultimate Battle.
8. Duality: The Never-Ending Struggle with Identity.
