Get Free Shipping on orders over $89
Doing Nothing :  A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America - Tom Lutz

Doing Nothing

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

By: Tom Lutz

Paperback | 1 May 2007 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $41.79

$40.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $10.25 with

 or 

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

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. 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."

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

Industry Reviews

"Highly intelligent, stimulatingly eclectic, and impressively learned." --Gary Kamiya, Salon

"Enjoyable and interesting . . . As much about the nature of work as it is about trying to avoid it." --Matthew Price, Los Angeles Times

"Incredibly engaging and offbeat meditation . . . A deliciously wild ride." --Elaine Margolin, The Denver Post

More in Cultural Studies

Shellshocked Nation : Britain Between The Wars - Alwyn Turner
The Book of Coffee : A philosophy - James Hoffmann

RRP $32.99

$26.99

18%
OFF
The Ruin of Magic : Longing and Belonging in Strange Times - Kate Holden
The Library That Made Me : 200 years of the State Library of NSW - Richard Neville
Famesick : A Memoir - Lena Dunham

RRP $34.99

$24.99

29%
OFF
The Definitive Guide to Horror Movies : Horror Essentials - Kim Newman
Food for Life : The New Science of Eating Well - Tim Spector

RRP $27.99

$23.75

15%
OFF
Sand Talk : How Indigenous thinking can save the world - Tyson Yunkaporta
Magnolia Parks : Magnolia Parks: Book 1 - Jessa Hastings

RRP $32.99

$26.99

18%
OFF
Diddly Squat : A Year on the Farm - Jeremy Clarkson

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Cat - Phaidon Editors

Hardcover

RRP $69.95

$52.75

25%
OFF
Leaders Eat Last : Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't - Simon Sinek
Night People : How to Be a DJ in '90s New York City - Mark Ronson
The Infinite Game : From the bestselling author of Start With Why - Simon Sinek
Sapiens : A Graphic History: Volume 1 - Yuval Noah Harari

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
Start With Why : How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action - Simon Sinek
Homo Deus : A Brief History of Tomorrow - Yuval Noah Harari

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Pets and their People - Charles Foster

RRP $49.99

$40.75

18%
OFF