Susan Eisenberg began her apprenticeship with Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in 1978, the year president Jimmy Carter set goals and timetables for the hiring of women on federally assisted construction projects and for the inclusion of women in apprenticeship programs. Eisenberg expected not only a challenging job and the camaraderie of a labor union but also the chance to be part of a historic transformation, social and economic, that would make the construction trades accessible to women. That transformation did not happen. In this book, full of the raw drama and humor found on a construction site, Eisenberg gracefully weaves the voices of thirty women who worked as carpenters, electricians, ironworkers, painters, and plumbers to examine why their numbers remained small. Speaking as if to a friend, women recall their decisions to enter the trades, their first days on the job, and their strategies to gain training and acceptance. They assess with thought, passion, and twenty years' perspective the affirmative action efforts. Eisenberg introduces this new edition with a preface that shows how things have changed and how they have stayed the same since the book’s original publication. She ends with a discussion of the practices and policies that would be required to uproot gender barriers where they are deeply embedded in the organization and culture of the workplace.
This is a book of original poetry about women working in construction and explores themes of workplace-linked suicide, sexual assault, accidents, and the role of witnesses"--
Poems in this volume bring readers through the construction site gate alongside the women who practice a skilled trade in a dangerous industry. Assured and impassioned, the poems not only manifest outer events and day-to-day realities of the worksite but also expose through metaphor and resonant detail its high-voltage interior life.Susan Eisenberg's early poems were private responses to the experiences of her apprentice years as an electrician. When a collection of her poems was published in 1984, Eisenberg began to receive letters from her counterparts in other trades and other regions of the country. Her ensuing dialogue with a national community of tradeswomen inspired the poems in Pioneering.
What's the price of chasing a dream? Nora Costello is a gifted soprano who longs to sing on Broadway despite her family's disapproval and her daily battle with self- doubt. When her beloved older brother dies in Vietnam, she spirals into despair, wondering how she'll embrace her performing goals without the support of her sole cheerleader. But before she hits rock bottom, Nora meets her soulmate, Bart Wheeler, a washed-up Broadway baritone with problems of his own-and a trove of great advice about singing. Nora also reunites with her oldest friend Liz, a troubled nun who knows more about Liam's motives than she should. Both a coming-of-age-story and a tale of enduring love, THE VOICE I JUST HEARD offers characters to root for as Nora, Bart, and Liz struggle to resolve their dilemmas. In the end, it's a book about the most important voice of all: the whisper of our hearts guiding our way.
Angry at how her grandmother erased the past, Susan Eisenberg, in these plainspoken, not-for-the-faint-of-heart, resists the historical amnesia and denial American culture propagates."--Eleanor Wilner, author.
The grandmother of a 30-something year old successful business woman in New York decides her granddaughter should be married, and hires a matchmaker. She agrees to meet the marriage prospect, a man who runs a streetside pickle stand.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.