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One father, 3 years, and thousands of rides
Poverty, By America meets Maid in this dad’s darkly humorous yet humanizing story of working long hours and late nights behind the wheel as a rideshare driver
Jonathan Rigsby spends his days as a crime intelligence analyst and his nights as an Uber driver. Reeling from his divorce and struggling to pay rent while caring for his autistic son, Rigsby became a rideshare driver, joining the millions of people with a side hustle just to make ends meet.
With a compelling blend of honesty and sardonic wit, Rigsby invites readers into his car to reveal the harsh reality of gig work for so many: grueling hours, living paycheck to paycheck, and hoping to avoid disaster long enough to prepare for the next bill. Along the way, he showcases the humor and humanity in the private moments of vulnerability that happen when people are left alone with a stranger—from the amusing tales of drunk college students to a passenger getting sick on the dashboard, a mother expressing distress about her son’s addiction, and a violent encounter on the job.
Unflinching and raw, Drive exposes an ugly truth that hides in the gaudy background of the American dream: you can do everything right and still fail. Buckle up.
“Provocative, eye-opening—and sometimes frankly terrifying—reading.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“[A] grimly frank account of his experiences as a rideshare driver, an indictment of the country’s rapidly expanding gig economy, and a frightening portrait of the ease with which one can slip from middle-class comfort to life on the edge of poverty.”
—Shelf Awareness
“A veritable horror movie of late capitalism, where our hero faces underpay, violent passengers, false promises, technological manipulations, and drunk frat brothers rather than masked slayers. This gripping read forces readers to finally see gig workers all around them, as well as to recognize how the middle class has become the Middle Precariat. We can all learn from Jonathan Rigsby’s long day’s drive into the night.”
—Alissa Quart, author of Bootstrapped and Squeezed
“Poverty is a relentless attack on a person’s energy and dignity. Jonathan Rigsby’s memoir gives readers a front seat on that punishing journey. He shows how the gig economy depends on trapping workers on a hamster wheel where they can neither stop nor gain ground. Drive is an engaging personal story, as well as a social chronicle that compels us to work for change.”
—Colleen Shaddox, coauthor of Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending US Poverty
“Rigsby’s excellent book Drive shows us how many people are just scraping by in this digital age while exposing an ugly truth about gig economy companies like Uber: they can only be successful by ensuring their workers are not. After you read this painfully honest and poignant tale, you’ll think twice before using a ridesharing app again.”
—Stephen Dublanica, author of Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip—Confessions of a Cynical Waiter
“Jonathan Rigsby’s story in Drive is a heartfelt and eye-opening account of the rideshare experience, as well as a fascinating and poignant personal journey that we all can learn something from. Highly recommended.”
—Jeff VanderMeer, author of Annihilation