(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“What the hell d’you know about workin’? You were in the movie business.”
This single, cutting remark from a condo security guard becomes the unlikely spark for an entertaining memoir, Job Junky. Stung by the accusation, an angry Rudy Ridolfo (a pseudonym) lists every job he’s ever held, from his teenage years, through the long stretches between film gigs. That list ultimately becomes this raucous, hilarious memoir.
Ridolfo limits himself to forty-five jobs, though he admits there were many more, but they were rather boring. He worked in various factories, worked as a bouncer, dishwasher, delivery person, painter, pizza maker and so many more occupations. Some jobs end in firings, others in walkouts, often hastened by bad decisions involving women, drugs, or the combination of both.
The book’s greatest strength is its voice. Ridolfo has a sharp eye for human behavior and an instinct for finding comedy in the small humiliations and surreal moments that define low and mid-wage work. The laughs don’t come solely from his own misadventures; employers, coworkers, and customers are all rendered with affectionate cruelty. Many of these characters feel instantly familiar, the kind of people you swear you’ve worked with yourself.
Do I think that Ridolfo exaggerates at times? Yes. But that hardly matters. It adds to the hilarity and amplifies the chaos and indignities that make these jobs so memorable. This isn’t a polished success story—it’s dirty, gritty, and often unapologetically crude—and that’s exactly why it works.
Ultimately, Job Junky is a celebration of endurance through missteps, a reminder that “real work” takes many forms, and that even the most undesirable jobs leave behind stories worth telling. Expect big laughs, occasional winces, and the sneaking suspicion that parts of it hit closer to home than you’d like to admit.