How long does it take to read Bullshit Jobs?
A Theory
Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber takes about 7 hours 11 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 7 hours 11 minutes
A weekend read
First published 2018. 392 pages, about 107,800 words.
15 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 11 hours 59 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 7 hours 11 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 30 minutes |
The page count is the median across 18 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory is a 2018 book by anthropologist David Graeber that argues the existence and societal harm of meaningless jobs. He contends that over half of societal work is pointless, which becomes psychologically destructive when paired with a work ethic that associates work with self-worth. Graeber describes five types of bullshit jobs, in which workers pretend their role isn't as pointless or harmful as they know it to be: flunkies, goons, duct tapers, box tickers, and taskmasters. He argues that the association of labor with virtuous suffering is recent in human history, and proposes universal basic income as a potential solution.
Subjects: Bureaucracy, Job satisfaction, Psychological aspects, Social aspects, Work, Organizational effectiveness
