New York ? For years, Barbara Ehrenreich wrote acerbic commentary on wealth and poverty from the comfort of her home, until an assignment from her editor at Harper’s magazine forced her to explore firsthand how millions of Americans live on minimum wage.

Ehrenreich lived in several states working a variety of jobs, from waitress to cleaning woman to sales clerk. To survive, she needed two jobs, seven days a week. The result was “Nickel and Dimed,” which has sold more than 1 million copies since its 2001 release and has spent nearly two years on The New York Times list of best sellers. It’s also in at least 40 freshman college reading programs.

Now, Ehrenreich has taken on the work force again, this time exploring white-collar unemployment in “Bait and Switch.”

This time, she used her birth name, Barbara Alexander (Ehrenreich is her first husband’s name; she was married and divorced twice), and a plausible but doctored resume. She spent 10 months and $6,000 trying to land a job while keeping her real identity a secret. “Bait and Switch” chronicles the career coaches, personality tests, boot camps, job fairs and networking events she used along the way.

Writing about social class and economic injustice comes naturally to Ehrenreich, the 64-year-old told The Associated Press in an interview from the cluttered workroom of her town house in Charlottesville, Va.

She was born in Butte, Mont., and watched her father’s journey from a copper miner to a corporate executive. She earned a doctorate in cell biology before becoming an activist and freelance writer, low-paying jobs that challenged her as a single mother with two young children. She has since written 13 books and contributed to such publications as The New York Times, The Guardian and Time magazine.

Author Barbara Ehrenreich, shown at her home in Charlottesville, Va., has a new book titled Bait

Q: Did you ever expect “Nickel and Dimed” to be such a hit, especially on college campuses?

A: Of course not. Who would want to read about me trying to do these jobs?

Q: Was delving into white-collar unemployment a natural move after your blue-collar experience?

A: I hadn’t thought of doing anything like this after “Nickel and Dimed.” I spent four years running around the country, speaking about the issues. What was beginning to catch my attention was the number of letters … from people with degrees – not just bachelor’s, but master’s – who sunk into poverty and couldn’t come back. … I hadn’t thought this was a group in trouble. My curiosity was piqued.

Q: Why did you do “Bait and Switch”? Isn’t job hunting something that everyone puts off, unless they become desperate and then it becomes a necessity?

A: I wanted to see the inside of the corporate world. … I thought, how hard can this be? If I go out there with a good resume – which I created – looking for a PR job, and use every possible resource, I should have a good job in four to six months.

Q: Wasn’t it easier for you than for the average Joe who really is unemployed? You had an advance from your publisher.

A: I wasn’t trying to live on a reduced budget. I was living the way I usually do. This was not about physical deprivation. Of course, a real unemployed person would have been climbing the walls. I was actually working the entire time, taking notes and keeping a detailed journal. I wasn’t truly unemployed.

Q: What did you learn about yourself in the process?

A: I didn’t like myself, or at least some things about myself as I tried to adapt. I had all these coaches telling me to be proactive, perky, positive, upbeat, self-confident, but that’s not me. I’m self-confident but not perky. … I found out that I’m not a nice person.