Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America
by Tom Lutz
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From the author of Crying, a witty, wide-ranging cultural history of our attitudes toward work--and getting out of itCouch 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 show more 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. show lessTags
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I enjoyed this book a lot. While some may be dismayed by the amount of historical data that seems to take the fun out of doing nothing, I liked seeing hard evidence of folks actively removing themselves from the work environment. Their struggles to do nothing invariably led to them trying hard to maintain the lifestyle. It also provided a nice juxtaposition to my just having run my first half marathon. My legs were jelly for the last two days and it was a pleasure to be sprawled out on the sofa with a book about laziness.
http://lifelongdewey.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/174-doing-nothing-by-tom-lutz/
http://lifelongdewey.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/174-doing-nothing-by-tom-lutz/
The history of slackers.
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40+ Works 583 Members
Tom Lutz is the founding editor and publisher of the Los Angeles Review of Books and Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California at Riverside. His many books include Born Slippy: A Novel (2020) and Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums (2008), which won the American Book Award.
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- 254
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- Reviews
- 2
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- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 5
