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On the Clock
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On the Clock Paperback - 2025

by Claire Baglin; Jordan Stump (Translator)

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Reader reviews for On the Clock

From the publisher

Claire Baglin's On the Clock packs a family saga, a penetrating picture of social inequality, and a coming-of-age story into a compact tale told in two alternating strands. The first follows the 20-year-old narrator's summer job at a fast food franchise and the other shows us moments from her childhood with her family, with a particular focus on her hapless, infuriating, good-hearted father, a low-paid but devoted electrician in a factory with an upside-down smile. These two skeins sketch out in swift turns two stories of underappreciated work: one covering several decades, the other a summer; one constituting a sort of life, the other a stopgap on the way to something different (the narrator is a college student). With a keen eye for eloquent details and sharp ear for workplace jargon, her dry humor, and a crisp compelling style, Baglin's depiction of their lives is particularly rich, at once affectionate and alienated. Working the alternating strands in a way reminiscent of Georges Perec's W or the The Memory of Childhood, the past is remarkably vivid in On the Clock: her childhood memories of their bleak small town and of summer vacations spent at campgrounds by the sea in Brittany. And the present blazes in scenes of the young woman's current fast-food trial: the awful boss, the nasty manager, and all the tedium and horror of dead-end work:

Slowly the oven door opens and a nursery-school tune announces that the salad rolls can come out [and] I'm mired in the heart of pointlessness. I stick a straw into the whipped cream but don't take off the end of the paper wrapper so they'll know it hasn't been used, I'm conscientious.

Details

  • Title On the Clock
  • Author Claire Baglin; Jordan Stump (Translator)
  • Binding Paperback
  • Pages 144
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher New Directions Publishing Corporation
  • Publication date 2025-03-04
  • ISBN 9780811239356 / 0811239357
  • Weight 0.24 lbs (0.11 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.93 x 5.33 x 0.34 in (20.14 x 13.54 x 0.86 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 21st Century
    • Cultural Region: French
    • Demographic Orientation: Rural
    • Demographic Orientation: Small Town
  • Category Literature - Classics / Criticism
  • Library of Congress subjects Families, Novels
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2024052375
  • Dewey Decimal Code 843.92

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 02/01/2025, Page 28
  • Publishers Weekly, 01/27/2025, Page 0

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On the Clock
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On the Clock

by Claire Baglin

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  • Near Fine
  • Paperback
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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780811239356 / 0811239357
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Like new trade paperback, NO remainder mark. Short stories translated from the French by Jordan Stump
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On the Clock
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On the Clock

by Baglin, Claire

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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On the Clock
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On the Clock

by Baglin, Claire

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780811239356 / 0811239357
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New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2025. Paperback. Very Good. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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On the Clock
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On the Clock

by Baglin, Claire

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  • Paperback
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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780811239356 / 0811239357
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New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2025. Paperback. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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On the Clock
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On the Clock

by Baglin, Claire

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780811239356 / 0811239357
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New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2025. Paperback. Like New. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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On the Clock
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On the Clock

by Baglin, Claire, Stump, Jordan

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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On the Clock
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On the Clock

by Baglin, Claire, Stump, Jordan

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On the Clock
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On the Clock

by Baglin, Claire

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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New Directions Publishing Corporation. Used - Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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On the Clock
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On the Clock

by Baglin, Claire

  • Used
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Used
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780811239356 / 0811239357
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Description:
New Directions Publishing Corporation. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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A$16.32
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On the Clock
Stock photo: cover may vary

On the Clock

by Baglin, Claire

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780811239356 / 0811239357
Quantity available
1
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New Directions, 2025-03-04. paperback. Used: Good. 5.20x0.40x8.00. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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