The Leisure Ethic: Work and Play in American Literature, 1840-1940

by William A. Gleason

Book Overview

At the turn of the last century, as routinized industrial labor made a mockery of the gospel of work, Americans increasingly sought fulfillment not on the job but in their leisure activities. This book explores the multiple and, at times, contradictory tensions surrounding this turn to play and examines their impact on nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century American literature. Arguing that American writers participated in the ongoing debates...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804734348
• ISBN13: 9780804734349
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Length: 468 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"