Only One Thing Can Save Us: Why America Needs a New Kind of Labor Movement

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Is labour's day over or is this the big moment Are unions the logical next step beyond the Occupy Movement, or are they just an anachronism from a bygone era In Only One Thing Can Save Us, acclaimed author Thomas Geoghegan asserts that only a new kind of labour movement can help switch course toward a future that is fair and prosperous for all people. He shows how a revitalised labour movement can help ease debt. Geoghegan argues that labour must transform itself as well. This is a sorely needed call to arms, written in Geoghegan's inimitable, winning and witty style.

Reviews

Praise for Thomas Geoghegan's previous books:

"From his first, magnificent book straight through to this one, Tom Geoghegan has written about the labor movement in America with truly unmatched eloquence, self-reflection, and even wit (not easy, that last one). All that andhe is right. I hope the right people listen."
Michael Tomasky

"Tom Geoghegan has now spent four decades in one of Americas most unusual dual careers. On the one hand, he is a labor lawyer (on the side of the good guys), fighting to protect workers rights in a severely antiunion era. On the other hand, he is a skilled essayist and memoirist, who has chronicled the lives of baby-boomers with elegance and wistful humor. In Only One Thing Can Save Us, he argues for a new kind of labor movement. But argues is really the wrong word, as he makes his case in his usual manner and distinctive voice."
Michael Kinsley

"Which Side Are You On is one of the finest nonfiction books by a contemporary author Ive ever read. Its incredibly informative, frequently moving, loaded with fresh insights, and often laugh-out-loud funny. A delightful book about the labor movement: it sounds like an oxymoron, but in Geoghegans case its an accomplishment."
Hendrik Hertzberg, NewYorker.com

"Most diverting[Geoghegan] has the great virtue of being witty and ironicand to the pointA necessary primer."
Jurek Martin, Financial Times

"Clever and immensely appealing."
Katha Pollitt, The Nation

"Quirky, brilliantInspiringunparalleled in the literature of American labor."
The New York Times

"A brilliant book."
The Washington Post

"Delightful reading."
Barbara Ehrenreich

"So skillfully written, so wittyand so scathingthat it seems bound to grip even those who find the labor movement boring."
Businessweek

Author Bio

Thomas Geoghegan is a practicing labor lawyer and the author of several books, including "See You in Court; In America's Court;" the National Book Critics Circle Award finalist "Which Side Are You On"; and, most recently, "Were You Born on the Wrong Continent" (all available from The New Press). He has written for "The Nation," the "New York Times," and "Harper's Magazine." He lives in Chicago.