Working dead-end blue-collar jobs your whole life can take a dramatic physical and emotional toll-unless you learn to embrace the absurdity.

Kevin Cramer has almost died at work three separate times, surviving each incident only through a minor miracle. It got him asking the question-why? Why do so many of us get up and trudge to a place we dislike every day? American Grunt: Ridiculous Stories of a Life Lived at $8.00 an Hour is Cramer's quest to find meaning in a career spanning nearly a hundred forgettable jobs from paper boy to construction laborer, including all the warehouses, bars, parking lots, schools, and delivery trucks in between.

American Grunt is a book for all of us whose dreams never quite materialized and who found ourselves both laughing and weeping at the insanity of where we got stuck. This story provides hope that despite all the frustration, it's possible to live a modern blue-collar life without the oft-attached bitterness.