Married to the Job: Why We Live to Work and What We Can Do About It: Ilene Philipson
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Through her work observing Americans’ work habits, psychotherapist Ilene Philipson found that people increasingly look to their jobs for self-worth and a sense that they’re connected to something larger than themselves. Work is “colonizing our emotional lives,” she writes, and in Married to the Job: Why We Live to Work and What We Can Do About It, she shares stories of people who seek to fill the self-worth void by working until midnight and having a social world that revolves around their colleagues. It’s important not to become overattached to your job, Philipson says, and she shows readers how to see that there’s more to life than work.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Philipson, a psychotherapist, has written a bleak account of “the problem with no name,” or the way employees overinvest in their workplace. She has treated many patients for whom work has become their life and obsession. The author provides numerous case studies that describe how people look to their work for emotional fulfillment, feelings of self-worth, and family connections. They stay late at work, socialize with their colleagues, and thrive on praise from supervisors. When these employees feel snubbed or betrayed by their workplace, they are often incapacitated over their treatment and are unable to return to work. Philipson contends that this is not an individual’s problem but society’s problem, as society places a higher value on work than leisure. Most of the book focuses on personal stories and the psychological factors behind being “married to your job,” but the author does suggest ways to set emotional boundaries at work and become more involved with family and social activities outside of the workplace. This title joins such other workplace studies as Arlie Hochschild’s The Time Bind and Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed as an essential purchase for public and academic collections.
Stacey Marien, American Univ. Lib., Washington, DC
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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