Fired!

If you spend any time at all in the workplace you’re going to get laid off, down-sized, let go, out-sourced, axed, terminated, canned, canceled, dismissed… FIRED! Actress Annabelle Gurwitch (Dinner And A Movie, NPR’s Day To Day) was canned by a cultural icon when she was fired from a play by Woody Allen. Turning to her friends in show business, she learned she was not alone—everyone she knew, from her rabbi to her gynecologist, had their own account of getting the boot. Featuring interviews with comedians, economists and regular joes, Fired! is a humorous look at downsizing in America. Gurwitch traveled the country, interviewing people as diverse as Tim Allen, Sarah Silverman, Jeff Garlin, Anne Meara, David Cross, and auto workers in Lansing, Michigan, whose perspectives ranged from the tragically comedic to the just plain tragic. Her journey also led her to the office of Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under President Clinton, and to economist Ben Stein, who spoke of the growing insecurity the American worker faces today. Drawing on her hugely popular book, Fired! reminds us that that all great success is born of failure, that humor helps, and that if you’re employed in America today, getting fired could be the best and worst thing that can happen in your working life.