Doing Nothing

A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book Doing Nothing by Tom Lutz, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Tom Lutz ISBN: 9781429978064
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication: May 16, 2006
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Language: English
Author: Tom Lutz
ISBN: 9781429978064
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication: May 16, 2006
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Language: English

From the author of Crying, a witty, wide-ranging cultural history of our attitudes toward work—and getting out of it

Couch potatoes, goof-offs, freeloaders, good-for-nothings, loafers, and loungers: ever since the Industrial Revolution, when the work ethic as we know it was formed, there has been a chorus of slackers ridiculing and lampooning the pretensions of hardworking respectability. Reviled by many, heroes to others, these layabouts stretch and yawn while the rest of society worries and sweats. Whenever the world of labor changes in significant ways, the pulpits, politicians, and pedagogues ring with exhortations of the value of work, and the slackers answer with a strenuous call of their own: "To do nothing," as Oscar Wilde said, "is the most difficult thing in the world." From Benjamin Franklin's "air baths" to Jack Kerouac's "dharma bums," Generation-X slackers, and beyond, anti-work-ethic proponents have held a central place in modern culture.

Moving with verve and wit through a series of fascinating case studies that illuminate the changing place of leisure in the American republic, Doing Nothing revises the way we understand slackers and work itself.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

From the author of Crying, a witty, wide-ranging cultural history of our attitudes toward work—and getting out of it

Couch potatoes, goof-offs, freeloaders, good-for-nothings, loafers, and loungers: ever since the Industrial Revolution, when the work ethic as we know it was formed, there has been a chorus of slackers ridiculing and lampooning the pretensions of hardworking respectability. Reviled by many, heroes to others, these layabouts stretch and yawn while the rest of society worries and sweats. Whenever the world of labor changes in significant ways, the pulpits, politicians, and pedagogues ring with exhortations of the value of work, and the slackers answer with a strenuous call of their own: "To do nothing," as Oscar Wilde said, "is the most difficult thing in the world." From Benjamin Franklin's "air baths" to Jack Kerouac's "dharma bums," Generation-X slackers, and beyond, anti-work-ethic proponents have held a central place in modern culture.

Moving with verve and wit through a series of fascinating case studies that illuminate the changing place of leisure in the American republic, Doing Nothing revises the way we understand slackers and work itself.

More books from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Cover of the book Moominpappa's Memoirs by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book Lover by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book When Women Were Birds by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book The Camerons by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book Collected French Translations: Prose by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book Find Me by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book Commander in Chief by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book Her Body Knows by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book The Storyteller by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book Unseen Hand by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book Digressions on Some Poems by Frank O'Hara by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book The Virgin Suicides (Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition) by Tom Lutz
Cover of the book Strange Tools by Tom Lutz
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy