Overview

One father, three years, and thousands of rides Poverty, By America meets Maid in this dad’s darkly humorous yet humanizing story of working long hours and late nights behind the wheel as a rideshare driver Jonathan Rigsby spends his days as a crime intelligence analyst and his nights as an Uber driver. Reeling from his divorce and struggling to pay rent while caring for his autistic son, Rigsby became a rideshare driver, joining the millions of people with a side hustle just to make ends meet. With a compelling blend of honesty and sardonic wit, Rigsby invites readers into his car to reveal the harsh reality of gig work for so many: grueling hours, living paycheck to paycheck, and hoping to avoid disaster long enough to prepare for the next bill. Along the way, he showcases the humor and humanity in the private moments of vulnerability that happen when people are left alone with a stranger — from the amusing tales of drunk college students to a passenger getting sick on the dashboard, a mother expressing distress about her son’s addiction, and a violent encounter on the job. Unflinching and raw, Drive exposes an ugly truth that hides in the gaudy background of the American dream: you can do everything right and still fail. Buckle up.

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9780807007938

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Reviews

“Poverty is a relentless attack on a person’s energy and dignity. Jonathan Rigsby’s memoir gives readers a front seat on that punishing journey. He shows how the gig economy depends on trapping workers on a hamster wheel where they can neither stop nor gain ground. Drive is an engaging personal story, as well as a social chronicle that compels us to work for change.” —Colleen Shaddox, coauthor of Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending US Poverty “Drive is a veritable horror movie of late capitalism, where our hero faces underpay, violent passengers, false promises, technological manipulations, and drunk frat brothers rather than masked slayers. This gripping read forces readers to finally see gig workers all around them, as well as to recognize how the middle class has become the Middle Precariat. We can all learn from Jonathan Rigsby’s long day’s drive into the night.” —Alissa Quart, author of Bootstrapped and Squeezed

“Poverty is a relentless attack on a person’s energy and dignity. Jonathan Rigsby’s memoir gives readers a front seat on that punishing journey. He shows how the gig economy depends on trapping workers on a hamster wheel where they can neither stop nor gain ground. Drive is an engaging personal story, as well as a social chronicle that compels us to work for change.” —Colleen Shaddox, coauthor of Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending US Poverty

Author Information

Jonathan Rigsby is a crime intelligence analyst for the state of Florida during the day and a rideshare driver by night. He lives in Tallahassee with his son. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago.

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