What does work mean in today's America? Documenting the working life and takeover death of the White Furniture factory in Mebane, North Carolina, writer Cathy N. Davidson and award-winning photographer Bill Bamberger find pride in craft and an irremediable sense of loss. Bamberger's evocative photographs and Davidson's in-depth interviews with the workers and managers of White Furniture show us the human face of an economy on costly transition. These are the men and women behind the headlines of layoffs a nd buyouts, of downsizings and closings--they tell the real story of America's changing economy.

"Closing is the best kind of documentary: a human drama that's politically significant."-USA Today

"Here is a stupendous book, a complete answer to any who believe that all that counts in a company is its bottom line . . ."-The Economist

"If there's an untold story in America today, this is it. This sad, engrossing, and utterly unique book explores the precise moment of a factory closing with such eloquence and clarity of purpose that it feels like a great novel."-Martin Scorsese