|
''Taking the Heat – A Steelworker’s Story'' (Flatwoods Press, 2012) is a memoir that details the challenges of being a laborer in a steel mill. This first-person narrative, written by Richard Sarver, is based on 32 years of employment at a small Virginia steel manufacturing plant. The primary focus of ''Taking the Heat'' is Sarver’s 20 year stretch in his steel mill’s melt shop. The book describes adverse working conditions that include exposure to extreme heat, working in excessive dirt and air-borne dust, and functioning in a high-noise environment. Sarver also recounts the interactions of steelworkers with each other and their supervisors under what are often difficult circumstances. In similar fashion to ''Moby-Dick'', ''Taking the Heat'' is, on one level, a book about a vocation, replete with detailed descriptions of work processes and equipment. Sarver borrows several chapter titles from ''Moby-Dick'' and quotes from the Melville novel at one point. ''Taking the Heat'' attempts to balance the serious and tedious themes of work and endurance with light humor. In the chapter titled “Through a Glass, Darkly,” Sarver reveals that he suffers from the degenerative eye disorder keratoconus. His distorted vision was severe enough to prevent him from being able to pursue his first career choice, military service. Initially, because of the keratoconus, it was questionable as to whether Sarver could work at the steel mill. His low vision has limited the range of jobs available to him within the steel industry. One of the later chapters in ''Taking the Heat'' is a veiled homage to ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', of which Sarver is a fan. “All Our Yesterdays,” the title of the chapter, is also the title of a Third Season ''Star Trek'' episode. The titles of several other ''Star Trek'' episodes are woven into the text of “All Our Yesterdays,” as well as an example of “Spock-speak,” and the word “enterprise.” A different chapter contains a veiled homage to ''The Outer Limits'', a 1963 science fiction television show. Flatwoods Press, LLC, based in Elliston, Virginia, is a small operation. Publicity for and distribution of ''Taking the Heat'' is limited. Despite the revelation of some harsh truths about safety and working conditions, Sarver continued working for the Roanoke steel mill of which he wrote after his book was published. == Taking the Heat Identifiers == Library of Congress Control Number: 2012945112 ISBN: 978-0-9859481-0-8 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Taking the Heat - A Steelworker's Story」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|