| Personal Name |
Chandler, Adam, author.
|
| Title Statement |
99% perspiration : a new working history of the American way of life / Adam Chandler.
|
| Varying Form of Title |
99 percent perspiration
|
| Varying Form of Title |
Ninety nine % perspiration
|
| Varying Form of Title |
Ninety nine percent perspiration
|
| Edition Statement |
First edition.
|
| Production, Publication, Distribution, Manufacture, and Copyright Notice |
New York : Pantheon Books, [2025]
|
| Physical Description |
x, 293 pages ; 25 cm
|
| Content Type |
text txt rdacontent
|
| Media Type |
unmediated n rdamedia
|
| Carrier Type |
volume rdacarrier
|
| Bibliography, Etc. Note |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-277) and index.
|
| Formatted Contents Note |
Columbia : the birth of the American order -- Exceptional and exceptionally vague : the dangers of a safe founding story -- Landfall : the religiion of work -- Earn this : the impossible immigrant binary -- Fording the river : big business and the frontier mirage -- Right of way : the tall myth of the maverick -- Bustle : work theater and the death of leisure -- Hustle : the impossible act of keeping up -- Worth : the wages of going it alone -- Small normalcies : a new national story -- Automatic for the people : the postworker future -- Blindness the crisis of American self-estrangement.
|
| Summary, Etc. |
"An enlightening and entertaining interrogation of the myth of American self-reliance and the idea of hard work as destiny "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." This phrase, arguably Thomas Edison's most famous quote, has been drilled into the minds of generations of Americans. A fairly straightforward iteration of the idea that innovation, discovery, and ingenuity are the result of drive and grit above all, it has also come to represent much darker myths: that hard work always leads to success and that achievement is the product of individuals and not communities. In this model, those who come out on top are there because they earned it, and everyone else needs to buckle down, glove up, and, maybe one day, they'll get there too. As the wealth gap widens, communities crumble, and Americans work more for less, Adam Chandler raises the question: What happens when perspiration isn't enough? To answer it, he crisscrosses the country interviewing mayors, teachers, generals, pastors, construction workers, and entrepreneurs, to reveal just how untenable relying on "perspiration" as a strategy has truly become. He also delves into America's past to reveal how our government, education system, and culture at large have woven the idea of meritocracy deep into the fabric of American society and how some of history's most famous so-called bootstrappers really built their wealth. From George Washington to Seattle, Washington, Jay Gatsby to Bill Gates, 99% Perspiration unpacks the misguided obsession with hard work that has come to define both the American dream and nightmare, offering insight into how we got here and hope for where we may go"-- Provided by publisher.
|
| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Success United States.
|
| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Income distribution United States.
|
| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Success in business United States.
|
| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Self-reliance United States.
|