1 Book Review

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Limbo Critical Book Review

Presented to

Jennifer Enderlin

Arkansas Tech University

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OL 4963

Organizational Leadership Capstone

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Sarah Skolarski

T01273409

April 14, 2023

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Lubrano, A. (2004). Limbo: Blue-collar roots, white-collar dreams. Wiley.

Introduction

This critical book review is on the book Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams

by Alfred Lubrano. Alfred Lubrano is an author from New York who is now a reporter for the

“Philadelphia Inquirer” and has been on National Public Radio since 1992. He writes about

popular culture, the way people live, family, different classes, and poverty. He attended the ivy

league college, Columbia University. In 2004 he wrote Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar

Dreams which was a wonderful reflection of all of the different things he is most interested in

writing and reporting about. Alfred does a great job in portraying cultural happenings that not

everyone would think to worry about. His book looks into the lives of people who are torn

between living the way they were raised and living the life they have always dreamed of living.

He uses this same talent in the articles and reports as he does for his current jobs.

Summary

The book Limbo: Blue-collar roots, white-collar dreams describes the confusion of

people straddling two different worlds: blue collar and white collar which gives them the name

“straddlers”. The people in this book grew up in a blue collar home, and were considered a part

of the working class. Now that they have graduated college and built a new life for themselves

and their families, they are now living in white collar homes, and do not have the direction to

live this way. With clashing values, they can not seem to fit in with either side and find it hard to

be accepted by anyone. The author, Alfred Lubrano, interviews many people within each class,

therapists, people who study the different social classes, and the so-called straddlers. He portrays

a story that many people around the world can relate to by showing the trials you face when

going from one class to another. Lubrano seemingly writes a guide to how to live as a straddler
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and the ups and downs that can come with it. Although it can be hard, he shows how to

overcome it and find your way through these tough times.

Critical Evaluation

Alfred Lubrano’s purpose for writing Limbo: Blue-collar roots, white-collar dreams is to

show the challenges the straddlers, relating to many Americans, faced when going from the

working class, to living white-collar lives. After reading this book, it is evident that Lubrano

achieves his purpose and gets his point across well as he works through the ups and downs of the

straddlers, and also showing how the kids already born into white-collar families had a “head

start”.

Lubrano was partial to the straddlers being that when he went to Columbia, he had to deal

with some of the snooty, entitled, white-collar men that did not ever give him the time of day. He

thought that his classmates would treat him differently considering he was from New York, but

this was not the case. He also experienced being torn with his values when he became a

journalist and had to go against things he did not believe in growing up. He uses these

experiences of his college days and days of journaling to describe how these blue-collar people

struggled to fit in while trying to get their college degree and then moving into the new class.

I would recommend this book to people who are struggling to fit in, in any situation. It

goes through being a child in blue and white collar families, college through both classes,

working with both classes, and so much more deep situations that many people do not think

about on a day-to-day basis. When you hear people talking about politics and different social

classes and the differences between them, one does not think, “oh boy this is really interesting.”

Usually, they would think quite the opposite. Honestly, I was not extremely excited to read it.
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But this book is very engaging and pulls you in with romance, sociological issues, ups and

downs, twists and turns, and so much more. When it is over you wish there was more to read.

I did not find many weaknesses within this book. I think that the author supports his

thesis and has many great examples of both social classes and how to live through them without

struggling too much. He is definitely biased to the straddlers, but shows consideration when

describing opposing viewpoints. This book is not limited to different subjects. Like I said

previously, there is romance, sociological issues, ups and downs, twists and turns, and so much

more. Contemporary culture will always relate to this book because there will always be richer

and poorer people, there will always be different classes and different trials people work through

within them. For example, I am a first generation college student, I am hoping when I get my

degree, I will be living better than my parents were when they were twenty-two. It is very easy

for me to relate to this book on different levels.

Drawing claims is one of the authors strong suits in this book. Lubrano describes the

families of the blue collar kids going to college. Some are very hopeful that their children will be

successful and be able to make it to the middle and upper class. But there are also some families

that think college is not going to mean anything for their kids. They view it as something that

will cause their kids to be better than them, they seem jealous of the opportunity and missed

opportunities. Lubrano also shows how once a blue-collar child becomes white-collar, they

change. They no longer fit in with the blue-collar family, but they also do not really fit in with

their white-collar friends and family either. They are speaking differently, acting differently,

dressing differently, and overall are changing into a different person than they used to be. This

also affects the straddler when they go to work after college. They do not really fit in anywhere,

so it is hard for them to make a life for themselves. After reviewing this book, and really thinking
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about how he wrote it and how he differentiates the different classes, I came to the conclusion

that he proves his case, and does not need additional thesis to further his investigation.

Conclusion

Overall, I found this book to be eye-opening, and very interesting to many things that go

on in our world today. It is relatable and easy to follow. It gives you a lot to think about in the

way people live and grow up. I would recommend this book to anyone that is facing difficulty

fitting in, starting college, graduating college, or starting a new job. There are many things that I

had never thought about when it came to different social classes, even things that hit close to

home. I learned that many people are going through much more than they let on, and that we

should never treat anyone differently, no matter who they are or where they come from. I also

learned that it is always important to preserve and push through even when you are struggling. I

will apply the information I learned from this book in my future leadership roles by, like I said,

always treating everyone equally, and being more empathetic when someone is struggling.