Arlington Heights resident publishes memoir, Hardly Working

Long-time Arlington Heights resident, Roger Day Bain, published his memoir, Hardly Working. The book is the self-effacing tale of a Chicago suburban man and his journey of avoiding a cookie-cutter corporate life. His story starts in 1960 in Clarendon Hills, Illinois and takes the reader through each work experience, how it defined Bain and the discoveries he made while evolving from jock to frat boy to counterculture acolyte to suburban dad to self-employed ad guy: Part gonzo documentary and part social history wrapped in a coming-of-age tale spanning six decades.

The reader joins Bain’s wild ride with each move he makes and where it will lead. Peek inside the Hinsdale Golf Club caddy shack in 1960, meet the flange ladies, the Fuller Brush man, the Ace Hamburger Flipper, and the Fabulous Johnny A. Attend the final Grateful Dead performance at the Fillmore West. Come face to face with an anteater in the jungle ruins of a lost tribe in Colombia, S.A. Taste how it feels to wear a cheap brown suit to an office job you can tell won't pan out. Find out why the author was wearing a dress and playing kazoo for an audience of kids and nuns—while ditching his day job. This hodgepodge of experience leads to the creation of a one-man band advertising practice.

The story navigates the conflict between the need to pay bills and the urge to be creative and free. Hardly Working is timely as we navigate a post-Covid world and how careers are being redefined; a comical, often poignant reflection of the American dream, an example of how to be yourself and live well; how having enough is more realistic than having it all.

For more information on Roger Day Bain: http://bit.ly/3YHEams

To order the book on Amazon: https://bit.ly/3l0Jx25