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Reviewed by Geoff Griffin
  Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers and Bums in America
By Tom Lutz
Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2006
ISBN 0865476500, 363 pages, $25
How To Be Idle
By Tom Hodgkinson
HarperCollins 2005
ISBN 0060779683, 286 pages, $18.95
 When I noticed these two titles together, I thought, “Finally, a publishing trend aimed at somebody
like me.” Or, should I say, somebody I wish I could slow down to be more like – but only on some days and only in front of certain people.
That confusing and contradictory attitude about slacking is the main thesis of Tom Lutz’s “Doing Nothing.” Throughout history we have both loved and loathed loafers. On the one hand, we wish we could be like them, on the other, we’re afraid we’ll end up like them. Seeing somebody goofing off when they could be working can draw everything from laughter to scorn depending on the situation.
Lutz had to sort out his own views on the subject when his teenage son parked himself on the couch for days on end with no apparent plans for the future. Lutz felt frustrated, but also wasn’t sure what to say given that he was pretty much the same way at that age. The situation got him wondering about the history of taking it easy, and he has put together an impressive collection of research and some noteworthy points on the topic.
One of the themes running throughout the book is that those who promote lounging around often don’t practice what they preach, and vice versa. The members of the pro-loaf movement are often the ones working slavishly into the night to produce books, television shows and movies that glorify slacking. Conversely, Ben Franklin, who gave us the whole “early to bed, early to rise” paradigm, apparently wasn’t doing much of either while he was America’s ambassador to France.
For all of the impressive research Lutz has put together, there are some noticeable gaps. It seems odd to have a section on bums and tramps without making some reference to George Orwell’s “Down and Out in Paris and London.” Lutz spends a lot of time on the Beats of the 1950s, the hippies of the 1960s and the slackers of Generation X, but the original punk movement of the 1970s, which was based in part on an attitude towards work and leisure, gets short shrift.
Furthermore, Lutz repeatedly pointing out that we all have a complicated relationship with work or lack thereof ultimately doesn’t do much to answer some important questions. For example, every generation has its dropout youth movement (Beats, hippies, punks, slackers) that refuses to become part of the consumer culture. However, with each passing generation, many of those same people end up becoming investment bankers who drive mini-vans. Is slacking just a rite of passage for people who don’t have kids yet?
While Lutz has a lot of information about the history of loafing, “Doing Nothing” did nothing for me in terms of wanting to take the afternoon off. If anything, it just made me feel lazy that I wasn’t working as hard as Lutz to compile so much research on one topic.
That’s why I turned to Tom Hodgkinson’s “How To Be Idle” to help me wind down. Although Hodgkinson also has good research and quotes from writers throughout history to help bolster his case for taking it easy, the best parts of the book are when Hodgkinson himself writes of the deliciousness of sleeping in or the moments of self-discovery that can result from having nothing to do but sit around in the late afternoon.
Hodgkinson has divided his book into 24 chapters – one for each hour of the day. The author provides a suggested nonactivity for each one of those hours, and better yet, a couple of good reasons why one shouldn’t feel guilty about being idle.
First, the whole concept of the “work ethic” was invented and perpetuated by people who want to control and make money off of those doing the actual work. Second, free time can often turn out to be the best time for organizing, solving problems and ultimately actually getting ready to get up and get things done. Hodgkinson gave me justification to argue that I’m not just goofing around – I’m refusing to tap dance for The Man while I work out some very important problems in my mind.
While Lutz has more information about slacking, I found Hodgkinson much more effective at helping me to actually want to slow down and take some time off – but only on certain days that are set aside for that.
Reviewed by Brian Passey
 Reprieve
by Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco is a master of subtlety. Though some of her songs can be explosive — growling vocals over a bed of ferocious, punk-style guitar chords —DiFranco truly shines when she is almost whispering over a soft bass line and barely-there guitar picking.
On her 2001 masterpiece “Revelling/Reckoning,” DiFranco masterfully incorporated a jazzlike sound in her music, with her voice even mimicking a muted trumpet. Though some of the brassier sounds were at the forefront of that and later albums, the real art was in the subtleties of the acoustic bass, the diminished guitar picking and her frail, melodic vocals. That style is back on “Reprieve,” DiFranco’s best album since “Revelling/Reckoning.” The horns are gone but in their place are atmospheric keyboards, animal noises and other strange sounds floating through the background. The only rhythm comes from the loping bass lines with only two tracks featuring minimal percussion.
Like the percussion, the band also is minimal. Aside from DiFranco there is only Todd Sickafoose, bassist and multi-instrumentalist. However, Mike Napolitano, DiFranco’s boyfriend, recordist and “mix doctor,” layers the instruments and noises in such a way that it sounds like the work of more than two musicians. Though some songs may seem stark and bare when they begin, most evolve into a virtual cornucopia of sound.
As with any other DiFranco album, “Reprieve” is just as much about the lyrics as it is about the music. Never one to shy away from political statements, DiFranco revisits favorite topics such as feminism and distrust of the nation’s current power structure. “Millennium Theater” even references New Orleans — where half of “Reprieve” was recorded before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. She begins the song by calling for impeachment of the president before listing associated grievances: “Halliburton, Enron / chief justices for sale / Yucca Mountain goddesses / their tears form a trail / trickle down pollution / patriarchies realign / while the ice caps melt / and New Orleans bides her time / New Orleans bides her time.” Though the music on “Reprieve” may be blissfully frail at times, DiFranco’s lyrics are as intellectually heavy as ever.”
Boy
by U2
 Before the reverb-drenched, anthemic power ballads of “Joshua Tree” and beyond, U2 was a scrappy, Irish, postpunk, quasi-new wave band ahead of its time. The band’s 1980 debut “Boy” is still one of the its greatest albums and remains a breath of fresh air to those tired of the formulaic sound found on later U2 releases.
“I Will Follow,” the catchiest, most accessible track on “Boy,” comes closest to the style we now recognize as the U2 sound but dirtier. The whole album has much more of a raw and unperfected sound, unlike the band’s overproduced releases of late. Still, U2’s knack for soaring choruses and melodic guitar riffs is apparent on “Boy.” Other tracks, like “An Cat Dubh” and “Stories for Boys” almost sound like artistic versions of cliché ’80s hits without the goofy lyrics and quirky melodies. However “An Cat Dubh” fades into the chiming, atmospheric “Into the Heart,” hinting at where the band will soon travel through songs like “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
One major difference between today’s U2 and the “Boy”-era U2 is the actual inclusion of bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen. The album definitely has more of a full band sound than later releases that tended to become “The Bono and Edge Show.” With the rhythm section featured more prominently on “Boy,” we are treated with a taste of the band’s punkish beginnings. We can actually hear Clayton’s bass lines. Mullen’s drumming — especially on “Out of Control” and “Stories for Boys” — is more animalistic, hovering somewhere between the styles of Mick Fleetwood and Green Day’s Tré Cool.
Though the roles of vocalist Bono and guitarist The Edge are not as overbearing on “Boy,” they both still play important parts. Their roles are less refined, however, and like Clayton and Mullen, they too reveal more of their punk roots. “Out of Control” features some of Bono’s wildest, least-restrained vocals and The Edge’s guitar is grittier throughout the album. “Boy” may not be U2’s prettiest album, but it is easily their most authentic. SGM
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