The fabric of the western literary tradition is not always
predictable. In one wayward strand, waywardness itself is at work,
delay becomes almost predictable, triviality is auspicious, and
failure is cheerfully admired. This is loiterature. "Loiterature"
is the first book to identify this strand, to follow its path
through major works and genres, and to evaluate its literary
significance. By offering subtle resistance to the laws of "good
social order," loiterly literature blurs the distinctions between
innocent pleasure and harmless relaxation on the one hand, and
not-so-innocent intent on the other. The result is covert social
criticism that casts doubt on the values good citizens hold
dear--values like discipline, organization, productivity, and,
above all, work. It levels this criticism, however, under the guise
of innocent wit or harmless entertainment. Loiterature distracts
attention the way a street conjurer diverts us with his sleight of
hand. If the pleasurable has critical potential, may not one of the
functions of the critical be to produce pleasure? The ability to
digress, Ross Chambers suggests, is at the heart of both, and
loiterature's digressive waywardness offers something to ponder for
critics of culture as well as lovers of literature.
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