The renowned American essayist and social activist, studied at the Reed College in Portland, Oregon, obtaining a Ph.D. in biology from the Rockefeller University of New York. After finishing it, he decided to abandon scientific research and began to get involved in politics, as an activist for social change. Belongs to the leadership of the Social Democratic Party of America, and from 1991 to 1997 has been a regular columnist in Time magazine and has written for publications such as The New York Times, Mother Jones, The Atlantic Monthly, Ms, The New Republic, Z Magazine, In These Times and Salon.com. Since August 2005 he has written for the newspaper The Progressive. His book For Four Hard: How (Not) to Get Paid in the United States (Nickel and Dimed, 2002), which we now present, became a bestseller throughout the United States. In it, Ehrenreich collects his painful experience performing low and poorly paid jobs, as part of a research project about the working conditions of the poor American classes.