Ilana Gershon is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University. She is the author of The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media and No Family Is an Island: Cultural Expertise among Samoans in Diaspora, both from Cornell. Jean Lave is Professor of Education and Geography at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Cognition in Practice, coauthor of Understanding Practice and Situated Learning, and coeditor of History in Person.

• Introductionby Ilana Gershon1. Letter to a Young Malawian Doctorby Claire Wendland and Chiwoza Bandawe2. What You Need to Know to Be a Fish Farmer in West Norwayby Marianne Elisabeth Lien and John Law3. How to Be a Magician in Parisby Graham M. Jones with Loïc Marquet4. Being a Village Court Magistrate in Papua New Guineaby Melissa Demian5. The Chaplain: Being a Physician of the Soul in a Secular Ageby Winnifred Fallers Sullivan and Christopher Swift6. Being a Crime Scene Technician in Swedenby Corinna Kruse7. Playing Piano without a Piano in Boliviaby Michelle Bigenho8. Making Do in Perpetual Crisis: How to Be a Journalist in Buryatiaby Kathryn E. Graber9. How to Be a Professional Organizer in the United Statesby Carrie M. Lane10. The Character in Question: How to Design Film Costumes in Indiaby Lovleen Bains and Clare Wilkinson11. Reflections from a Life on the Line: How to Be a Factory Workerby Caitrin Lynch and Warren Chamberlain12. How to Be a Cell Phone Repair Technicianby Amanda Kemble, Briel Kobak, Joshua A. Bell, and Joel Kuipers13. Becoming a Professional Wrestler in Mexico Cityby Heather Levi14. The Pains and Peaks of Being a Ballerina in Londonby Helena WulffAfterwordby Jean LaveList of ContributorsIndex

"I read with real pleasure and enjoyment this imaginative collection of essays produced mostly by established anthropologists, and a few others who are practitioners of their crafts, on a quirky diversity of jobs. Charmingly, Ilana Gershon offers this collection as 'a graduation gift to my students, a bouquet of possibilities so that you can start thinking in concrete detail about what you need to know to do many different kinds of unusual jobs.' A very valuable gift indeed for the sorts of job markets that a highly cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse college student body faces today. I was charmed by its imaginative and readable format, and A World of Work is also quite a deep collection on the nature of work in a number of specializations. It is for anyone who enjoys the drama, humor, and achievement of applying learned skills in everyday life."