Product Description

Who blows the bugle at the Kentucky Derby? Who dusts the dinosaur bones at the Smithsonian? Who sniffs dog breath for a living? Who measures the breasts of real models? ODD JOBS introduces you to the real people who perform these truly peculiar jobs. In 65 intimate portraits, photo essayist Nancy Rica Schiff captures the personalities and occupations of these oddball professionals, providing a short profile of each. A 20-year photography veteran, Schiff has spent the better half of that time discovering the behind-the-scenes people who do what others can't (or won't) do. No one can say that America isn't the home of the free, the brave, and the quirky, who will do almost anything to make an honest buck.• Profiles 65 of the most unique jobs in America.• Jobs include duck walker, coin polisher, doll doctor, and artificial inseminator.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #354793 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-28
• Released on: 2002-10-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Review
“The perfect coffee-table book . . . photographs will have party guests gabbing. . . . these portraits create an eccentric picture of the most creative of America's working class.” — The Boston Phoenix“ODD JOBS is a captivating photo essay on the people who make America tick.” —New York Post“Whatever you do for a living, it's got to be better than that [the job of the Diener] . . . a nifty book filled with striking portraits.” —Honolulu AdvertiservA terrific job of capturing the workers and their sometimes surreal environment . . . the punfully bad text is contagious. . . . a smiley little book.”—Entertainment Weekly“‘How'd You Like to Smell Armpits For a Living' was the headline, and they called the book ‘an entertaining description of wacky work assignments that make most folks' careers seem downright boring.'”—National Enquirer“You won't find these [excerpts] in the classifieds.” —Reader's Digest

From the Publisher
•Profiles 65 of the most unique jobs in America. •Jobs include duck walker, coin polisher, doll doctor, and artificial inseminator.

About the Author
NANCY RICA SCHIFF is a published and exhibited photographer based in New York City. She has been photographing odd jobs for more than 15 years. Visit www.nancyricaschiff.com

Customer Reviews

Love this unique book!
I received this book as a gift recently and my friends and I have shared so many laughs from the interesting conversation it always seems to spark. I keep it on my coffee table, but I sure would recommend that any doctor's office/waiting room/classroom should not be without it. I love to read about people and this is definitely a great find as Ms.Rica Schiff's portraits and odd job bios paint a colorful picture of the occupational choices we have in our lives. I already plan to stuff stockings with this book at Christmas this year. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Yikes!! People Really Do These Things For A Living!
Funny and fascinating stuff. I bought four copies and two of them are intended for my twin teen granddaughters with the idea that it is funny and serious all at the same time. It will certainly open their career choices to "outside the box" occupations.

Yes, these are really funny things to read about. The sweetly proud faces tell of the pride of these holders of unusual jobs. I actually visited a packaging operation where ladies were testing condoms on steel "devices" and I was delighted to see a similar job shown in Ms. Schiff's hilarious book.

One reviewer myopically advised school librarians to not buy this book because it was for adults. That's pretty strange advice to this reader who was exposed to the French Impressionists and the wonders of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other highly "adult" topics when I was a boy. This early appreciation for the unusual things in our world provided me with the freedom to choose from a bigger buffet of options. I used to sample a number of unusual occupations with pride instead of embarrassment. The beauty of Ms. Schiff's book is that it's both really funny and eye-opening at the same time. What could be a better occupation carousel of the unusual for a students wondering what they might want to be in life?

Buy it for your teenagers. It's a perfectly charming and meaty gift for all ages.

C. H.
Current author and former Ford plant 2nd shift "emblem slammer." (My job was to just snap the Ford Emblem under the hood ornament of every car leaving the Edgewater Assembly Plant.)

Alternative careers
I think this excellent book is appropriate for any reader teenager or beyond. At a time when jobs are scarce and people are searching for new employment, 'Odd Jobs' allows the reader, whether young or old, to become aware of a vast array of jobs that are inventive and alternative.
One must be resourcful during this ecomony. Odd Jobs is done with a sense of humor and captured the teenage market by having been selected by a panel of young librarians at the New York Public Library for their Teenage List 2003.