Something for Nothing

by Lears, Jackson

• ISBN13: 9780142003879
• ISBN10: 0142003875
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-07-27
• Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Summary

Jackson Lears has won accolades for his skill in identifying the rich and unexpected layers of meaning beneath the familiar and mundane in our lives. Now, he challenges the conventional wisdom that the Protestant ethic of perseverance, industry, and disciplined achievement is what made America great. Turning to the deep, seldom acknowledged reverence for luck that runs through our entire history from colonial times to the early twenty-first century, Lears traces how luck, chance, and gambling have shaped and, at times, defined our national character.

Author Biography

Jackson Lears is the author of several books, including Fables of Abundance, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for history. Editor of the distinguished journal Raritan, he is a Board of Governors Professor of History at Rutgers and writes frequently for the New Republic, Nation, and other magazines.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION GAMBLING FOR GRACE	1	(24)
CHAPTER ONE THE DANCE OF DIVINATION	25	(30)
CHAPTER TWO THE AMUSEMENTS OF THE ALEHOUSE	55	(42)
CHAPTER THREE CONFIDENCE GAMES	97	(50)
CHAPTER FOUR THE WANING OF PROVIDENCE	147	(40)
CHAPTER FIVE THE INCOMPLETE TAMING OF CHANCE	187	(42)
CHAPTER SIX THE UNCERTAIN TRIUMPH OF MANAGEMENT	229	(44)
CHAPTER SEVEN THE PERSISTENT ALLURE OF ACCIDENT	273	(48)
EPILOGUE	321	(14)
NOTES	335	(32)
CREDITS	367	(2)
INDEX	369