Awards

• Winner of ALA Notable Books (Nonfiction) 2015
• Winner of Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize (Nonfiction) 2015

Overview

The instant New York Times bestseller about one man's battle to save hundreds of jobs by demonstrating the greatness of American business. The Bassett Furniture Company was once the world's biggest wood furniture manufacturer. Run by the same powerful Virginia family for generations, it was also the center of life in Bassett, Virginia. But beginning in the 1980s, the first waves of Asian competition hit, and ultimately Bassett was forced to send its production overseas. One man fought back: John Bassett III, a shrewd and determined third-generation factory man, now chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co, which employs more than 700 Virginians and has sales of more than $90 million. In Factory Man, Beth Macy brings to life Bassett's deeply personal furniture and family story, along with a host of characters from an industry that was as cutthroat as it was colorful. As she shows how he uses legal maneuvers, factory efficiencies, and sheer grit and cunning to save hundreds of jobs, she also reveals the truth about modern industry in America.

Full Product Details

9780316231435

Table of Contents

Reviews

A triumph.... Get Factory Man and take your time with it. It's a big ol' delicious toasted sandwich of a book. Kurt Rheinheimer, The Roanoker

Beth Macy got the story of a lifetime. And she wrote this book in the Seabiscuit tradition, combining the power of truth-that's-stranger-than-fiction with the colorful verve of a novel. Janet Maslin, New York Times

John Bassett's story has everything. An extraordinary dynasty, a relevant and inspiring message, and one of the best heroes I've read about in years. It works on every level, from the most personal betrayal to the realities of the global economy, from the struggle of one worker in a small Appalachian town to the future of our cultural as a whole. Part of me wishes I'd found John Bassett III, because this is powerful stuff, but it's obvious the story is in excellent hands with Beth Macy. Sometimes the right writer comes along with the right story at the right time. This is clearly that book. - Bret Witter, author of Dewey and Until Tuesday

An Appalachian Random Family . In the course of narrating Bassett's efforts to fight China's underhanded underpricing, Macy digs in all directions, visiting company towns without companies, unearthing family secrets, and explaining the economic forces that determine our lives. Boris Kachka, Vulture

Macy's passion and enthusiasm are palpable on every page.... She makes a complex, now universal story understandable. Mimi Swartz, New York Times Book Review

It's a must-read just for its look at what happens at home when we send jobs overseas and how we all play a role. This one is a page-turner. DesignSponge

Author Information

Beth Macy is the author of the widely acclaimed and bestselling books Dopesick, Truevine, and Raising Lazarus. Based in Roanoke, Virginia, for three decades, she has won more than a dozen national awards for her reporting, including a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard. She is a winner of the 2021 George Mason Award. Beth is the creator of the Audible Original documentary Dopesick: Finding Tess.Dopesick is being adapted into an original drama by Hulu and will star Michael Keaton.

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