Life on the Line - by Solange de Santis (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Engaging--. Terrific--. Takes us over the collar line with grace and authority."--The New York Times

As a veteran reporter throughout the "downsizing" years of the auto industry in the United States and Canada, Queens-born Solange De Santis covered her fair share of auto plant closings, but almost always from the management's point of view. That is, until this mid-career, mid-thirties, Ivy League-educated journalist quit her job to become an assembly-line autoworker.

She was hired at a doomed General Motors plant, and quickly learned about the bone-crushing realities and mitigated rewards of hard, physical work. In Life on the Line, De Santis offers a glimpse into a world that too many of us shy away from acknowledging, even as we accept the keys to our new cars. Completely candid, and as unexpectedly poignant as it is funny, Life on the Line will change the way you view blue-collar work and the cars on which we all depend.

From the Back Cover

As a veteran business reporter, Solange De Santis covered her fair share of layoff announcements and plant closings, but almost always from Management's point of view. That is, until this mid-career, mid-thirties, Ivy League-educated journalist quit her job to become an assembly-line auto worker.

She was hired at a doomed General Motors plant, and quickly learned about the bone-crushing realities and elusive rewards of hard, physical work. In Life on the Line, DeSantis offers a glimpse into a world that too many of us shy away from acknowledging, even as we accept the keys to our new cars. Completely candid, and as unexpectedly poignant as it is funny, Life on the Line will change the way you view blue-collar work and the cars on which we all depend.

Review Quotes

"Compelling--De Santis offers much insight into the various goings-on inside an industrial plant, from the differences between management and labor that foster mistrust and animosity to the intricacies of union politics."--New York Post

About the Author

Solange De Santis has been a reporter and writer for the Palm Beach Post, Reuters, the Associated Press, the Toronto Globe and Mail, and the Wall Street Journal. This is her first book. She is currently a freelance writer living in Toronto.