A Year In the Life Of

January 17, 2011 9:43 AM

Are there a series of books about holding a particular kind of job for a year?

I thought there were a series of books in existence where somebody writes what it's like to be in certain job for the length of a year. It would have a title like, "A Year in the Life of a Hairstylist/Minister/Parole Officer" or whatever it happened to be.

Did I dream this up, or does such a series really exist?

posted by The ____ of Justice to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

This isn't a series of books, but there's a book called Gig that is nothing but interviews (about 100 I think) with ordinary people talking about their jobs. It's fascinating and compelling, and even though I read it roughly ten years ago, it's stuck with me.
posted by mothershock at 10:49 AM on January 17, 2011 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks for the info, mothershock!
posted by The ____ of Justice at 11:22 AM on January 17, 2011

There's also the book Working by Studs Terkel, which covers roughly the same ground as Gig, but that may be too old for you if you're looking for more recent descriptions.

In terms of series of career books, like you might find in a school library, none that I'm familiar with have a "year in the life" motif. I did a quick search on amazon and couldn't find any either.

However, it is popular to do "year in the life" books as longer form non-fiction for adults.
The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood and Julie and Julia are older, but recently, Down Among the Dead Men: A Year in the Life of a Mortuary Technician and The Husbands and Wives Club: A Year in the Life of a Couples Therapy Group have been popular. Maybe you're thinking of something like this?
posted by clerestory at 6:29 PM on January 17, 2011