Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream.

BAIT AND SWITCH: the (futile) pursuit of the American dream. Barbara Ehrenreich. 2005. Read by Anne Twomey. 6 cds. 7 hrs. Audio Renaissance. 1-59397-729-8. $29.95. Cardboard; content, author notes. A

A wise look at that most American of obsessions--making it and getting ahead--from the author of the best-seller Nickel and Dimed. Ehrenreich's plan was to enter a corporate job with a bogus background and references all lined up. She didn't make it but she takes the reader through an alternately comic and grueling visit to executive career coaches, job fairs for $200,000 + salary seekers, proselytizing evangelical networking seminars, and motivational gurus who she exposes like the puny Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. Ehrenreich is ruthless, predatory, and funny. Twomey's narration is an ideal match--each word carries a punch.

Ehrenrich's soft side is saved for the sad seekers, many of whom seem to swim like lemmings into the sea of psychobabble that suggests if only they had a more positive and winning attitude, if only they projected success with enough force and conviction,/f only they committed more of their dwindling reserves to the career makeover (con?) artists. She ends with a passionate and provocative plea that the self-blame end, and that the current economic climate be exposed and challenged for its own toxic emissions, which are so damaging to the human spirit. Welcome to the land of dingy hotel conference rooms that promise milk and honey. Nancy Chaplin, Libn., VCCW, Goochland, VA