E-Books →The Hungry Cowboy Service and Community in a Neighborhood Restaurant

Weaving together narratives from servers, customers, and managers, Erickson explores a type of service work that is deeply embedded in personal relationships and community. Feelings, play, and emotions are inseparable from the market transactions within the restaurant. Based on extensive interviews and two years of working as a waitress, Erickson provides insights into the ways that people make contact in our society and how they build on the fleeting connections in the service exchange to form more intimate relationships.
Written for readers, scholars, and students interested in American culture, consumerism, and community, The Hungry Cowboy offers a case study in how consumers and producers in the marketplace perform, and how dignity, meaning, and community can all be built at work.