"At the time, it was a powerful, terribly moving study of flesh-and-blood beings, men on the assembly line, demeaned and destroyed by a machine that is the system. On rereading it today, it is more overwhelming because it is even closer to the bone. Swados's feeling and prescience have made this novel more true than just about any piece of nonfiction on the subject of the contemporary workplace."--Studs Terkel
"Harvey Swados was a writer who stood apart from the prevailing fashions of his time. On the Line still has more to tell us about worker discontent--about the actual experience and aspirations of the factory class in America--than all the studies amassed by the government bureaus and foundation research committees will ever equal."--Hilton Kramer, New York Times Book Review