Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local - And Helped Save an American Town - Hardcover

"Nonfiction storytelling at its finest.... It does what the best business books should: It delivers a heavily researched, highly entertaining story, at the end of which you realize you've learned something.... This is a great American story, the kind that we don't read often enough."--Bryan Burrough, New York Times

"Macy's riveting narrative is rich in local color.... Vivid reporting."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The unlikely hero of Factory Man is a determined, ornery, and absolutely indomitable...business man. He's the head of a family furniture company and damned if he's going to be pushed around. Beth Macy has given us an inspiring and engaging tale for our times, but not the expected one."--Alex Jones, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Losing the News: The Future of the News that Feeds Democracy, Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and Laurence M. Lombard Lecturer in the Press and Public Policy

"Like some of the best nonfiction writers today - Michael Lewis and Katherine Boo come to mind first - Macy takes a topic that is either too dry, too complicated, or too depressing for most journalists to tackle and she tackles it with vigor, integrity, soul, and skill."--Janet Saidi, Christian Science Monitor

"An educational, fascinating reading adventure.... A moving book about the loss of American jobs -- one of the most vital issues of this century."--Steve Weinberg, The Dallas Morning News

"The epic struggle of Virginia furniture manufacturer John Bassett III (JBIII) to save his business has given crackerjack reporter Beth Macy the book she was born to write. Longtime champion of the downtrodden and the working American, Macy brings globalization down to a human scale, giving a real voice and a recognizable face to everyone involved, from factory worker to government official to Chinese importer. Thorough reporting and brilliant writing combine to make FACTORY MAN an exciting, fast-paced account of a quintessentially American story that affects us all."--Lee Smith, author of Guests on Earth

"Beth Macy sees twists and subtleties that other journalists can't see, and she writes about the world around her with grit, honesty and remarkable grace. She has a police detective's diligence and determination, a poet's way with words, and a born storyteller's gift for spot-on narrative."--Martin Clark, author of The Legal Limit

"Factory Man deserves to be read for anyone wanting to wrap their heads around the present-day dynamics and politics of globalisation. Macy's book is an important read...."--Shawn Donnan, Financial Times

"A well-crafted and epic tale.... Artfully told."--Marc Levinson, The Wall Street Journal

"A remarkable work.... Rarely, if ever, have I read a piece of book journalism that was more painstakingly researched or more compellingly transferred to the printed page.... It's as much about people as it is about bedroom suites and international commerce, and that human touch imbues it with the flesh and heart that sets it apart from most nonfiction."--Jeff DeBell, The Roanoke Times

The instant New York Times bestseller about one man's battle to save hundreds of jobs by demonstrating the greatness of American business.

The Bassett Furniture Company was once the world's biggest wood furniture manufacturer. Run by the same powerful Virginia family for generations, it was also the center of life in Bassett, Virginia. But beginning in the 1980s, the first waves of Asian competition hit, and ultimately Bassett was forced to send its production overseas.

One man fought back: John Bassett III, a shrewd and determined third-generation factory man, now chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co, which employs more than 700 Virginians and has sales of more than $90 million. In FACTORY MAN, Beth Macy brings to life Bassett's deeply personal furniture and family story, along with a host of characters from an industry that was as cutthroat as it was colorful. As she shows how he uses legal maneuvers, factory efficiencies, and sheer grit and cunning to save hundreds of jobs, she also reveals the truth about modern industry in America.