On Oct. 28, the Kelly Writers House hosted a conversation with author Adelle Waldman to discuss her second novel, “Help Wanted.”
The event — which featured an audience of over 40 students, faculty, and University City residents — was co-hosted by Wharton School alumni David Roberts and Penn English professor and KWH Faculty Director Al Filreis. “Help Wanted,” published in 2024, follows the diverse lives of workers at a big-box store and offers commentary on capitalism and low-wage labor.
This conversation was part of the Weber Symposia, a KWH program established to bring guest speakers to discuss the importance of clarity in writing about finance and economics. Notably, “this [was] the first time that we’re not talking about a book of nonfiction, analysis of tech, [or] sports-betting,” according to Filreis.
“I think that fiction and novels always give the most in depth view of a slice of life or a foreign era,” Roberts added. “In my thinking, novels are more real than nonfiction.”
Inspired by “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich, Waldman spent six months working at a Target store in Kingston, N.Y. to gain perspective for the novel.
“It’s a little bit out of fashion, I think, for fiction to do this kind of immersive reporting,” Waldman said at the event.
In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Roberts called Waldman's book “special.”
“It really takes you inside this big-box retailer, and specifically these workers,” Roberts said. “I think that type of realism is important because it can give people who otherwise would never have exposure to a certain type of environment a real exposure to it.”
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Specifically, Waldman focused on providing an “accurate” depiction of the workers’ lives.
“I think the problem is the system,” she said at the event. “No one’s intending to be evil, but if we just treat labor purely as another input and put so much pressure on companies to just make a profit without regard for other things, I think this is what results.”
During the event, Waldman discussed crafting the plot and using a satirical versus lyrical writing style. She read two excerpts from the book live and highlighted the process of creating characters, explaining her choice of featuring many characters instead of one main protagonist.
“I think that modern capitalism doesn’t work like that … it’s like a lot of people being a little bit exploited, a little bit chipped away at, around the edges,” Waldman added.
