On this Al Lubrano Interview: The best-selling author of “Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams,” on growing up in Bensonhurst and NOT embracing the street ethic machismo and violence, why blue-collar households create the perfect factory workers, conformity vs. collaboration, the biggest communication differences between blue collar and middle class families, having too much silverware, why we call them “clean,” walking into a classroom with people “just like you, yet nothing like you…” marrying and socializing with people in different classes, being ok with NOT resolving all this stuff, NYC Pizza, surviving cancer (twice), work ethic, loads more. VERY kind and candid, deep conversation about moving from one class to the next. This is a MUST listen!

In Limbo, Al identifies and describes an overlooked cultural phenomenon: the internal conflict within individuals raised in blue-collar homes, now living white-collar lives. These people often find that the values of the working class are not sufficient guidance to navigate the white-collar world, where unspoken rules reflect primarily upper-class values. Torn between the world they were raised in and the life they aspire too, they hover between worlds, not quite accepted in either. Himself the son of a Brooklyn bricklayer, Lubrano uses his personal experience and interviews of other professionals living in limbo. For millions of Americans, these stories will serve as familiar reminders of the struggles of achieving the American Dream

Alfred Lubrano was born in Brooklyn, the first man in his family to complete high school. He graduated from Columbia University undergrad, and from Northwestern University where he got a master’s degree in journalism. He’s worked for newspapers in Columbus, Cleveland, and New York City. Today, he writes about poverty and issues of social class for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He’s contributed stories to GQ, the New York Times, and MSNBC… was also a commentator on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition for 14 years, and his work has appeared in half a dozen college textbooks on writing. He’s lectured about class in America at universities throughout the country and has won numerous journalist awards