Table of Contents
2011 Spring
Lines of Work
Introductory
Voices in Time
Task at Hand
- A Case of the Mondays: 1999 / Texas
- Canaries in a Coal Mine: c. 1860 / France
- Work Ethic: c. 30 BC / Lombardy
- The Devil’s Tools: 1621 / Oxford
- Norman Maclean Saws in Rhythm: c. 1927 / Montana
- Skilled Labor: c. 335 BC / Henan
- 4:30 Feeling: 216 / China
- Tom Wolfe Follows the Money: 1987 / New York
- By Appointment to a Goddess: c. 1174 / Ogyia
- Theodore Dreiser Proffers a Tip: c. 1925 / Kansas City
- Copy Department: 1327 / Northern Italy
- Richard Yates Stages an Office Romance: 1955 / New York City
- Clear-Sighted Ambition: 1778 / Paris
- Between Sharks and Spades: 1851 / Atlantic Ocean
- Packaging: 2001 / Port Ewen, NY
- Sei Shōnagon's First Day on the Job: c. 1000 / Kyoto
- Nickels and Dimes: 1926 / Jefferson City
- Hands Full: 1839 / Stonegappe
- Gloria Steinem Takes the Coats: 1963 / New York City
- A Productive Thought: c. 175 / Dalmatia
- Ralph Ellison Employed in the Paint Business: c. 1930 / Long Island
- No Light at the End of the Tunnel: 77 / Rome
- A Single-Minded Scientist: c. 1750 / Ingolstadt
- Set Decoration: 1976 / Pagsanjan
- Charles Mingus Loses the Gig: 1953 / United States
- Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: 1828 / North Carolina
- Lack of Initiative: 1883 / St. Petersburg
- Quality Control: 2010 / Los Angeles
- Instruction Manual: c. 600 BC / India
- Counter Production: 1943 / Krefeld
- Always be Closing: 1992 / Chicago
Job Market
- Ed Dante Writes Your Essay: 2010 / United States
- Senior Management: 1920 / Prague
- Love Writing, Shun Dancing: c. 1160 BC / Egypt
- Goodbye to the Bourgeoisie: 1650 / York
- Arthur Miller Punches the Clock: 1949 / New York City
- Unequal Opportunity: 1789 / Versailles
- Geoffrey Chaucer on the Business of Alchemy: c. 1390 / England
- What is Human Becomes Animal: 1844 / Paris
- Working Girl: 1972 / New York City
- Power Points: 1861 / London
- Spending Time: 1899 / Chicago
- Public Servant: 458 BC / Rome
- Life Insurance: 1964 / Hull
- Cost-Benefit Analysis: c. 1330 / Kyoto
- Susan Orlean on Being King: 1988 / New York City
- Instead of a Hobby: 1969 / Frankfurt
- Trading Commodities: 1923: New York City
- War Work: 1513 / San Casciano
- Price Adjustment: 1988 / Austin, TX
- Self-Help: c. 700 BC / Boeotia
- Selling Soap: 1899 / New York City
- Stay With Your Can: 2000 / Tokyo
- The Off-Season: c. 300 BC / Athens
- Grinding the Axe: 1903 / New York City
Gainfully Employed
- Barbara Ehrenreich Sorts the Merchandise: 2000 / Minnesota
- Labor Contract: 3761 BC / Eden
- Vocation and Avocation: 1936 / Franconia
- Professional Pride: 1680 / Paris
- Satanic Mill: 1802 / Manchester
- John Steinbeck Learns the Game: c. 1935 / California
- Serfs Up: 1525 / Bavaria
- Divide and Conquer: 1776 / London
- Sow and Reap: 806 / China
- Afternoons of Tedium: 1943 / Pennsylvania
- Decent Help: 1888 / London
- A Good Servant is Hard to Find: 1104 / Syria
- Public Works: c. 445 BC / Athens
- The Hive Mind: 1714 / London
- Unemployment Benefits: 1935 / New York City
- Vertical Integration: c. 2004 / Dongguan
- Assigned Positions: c. 1548 / Geneva
- Proletariat: 1928/ Russia
- Worker's Compensation: c. 1548 / Lyon
- Sound Investment: 1789 / England
- Nikolai Gogol on a Labor of Love: 1842 / St. Petersburg
- Stitches in Time: c. 530 / Monte Cassino
- Penance: 163 BC / Rome
- Mutual Interest: c. 1923 / Paris
- Union Busting: 1914 / Ludlow, CO
Departments
Essays
- The Mother of Possibility : by Sven Birkerts
- Lost Symbols: by Donovan Hohn
- A Talent for Sloth: by Philip Connors
- Tools of the Trade: by Peter Stothard
- Treasure Hunt: by Alain de Botton
Conversations
- Philip Dormer Stanhope & Louis C.K.: Freeloaders
- Mencius & John Ruskin: The Mind-Body Problem
- Martin Luther & Bertrand Russell: Devil’s Playthings
Reconsiderations
Browse Back Issues Love this? Subscribe to Lapham's Quarterly today.- Visual Aids
-
Living Languages
The origins and movement of Swahili, Hebrew, Mandarin, Nahuatl, and English across the globe
-
Art, Photography, & Illustrations
View a selection of art from our latest issue.
-
Charts & Graphs
All of our charts and graphs, pulled from the pages of Lapham’s Quarterly.
- Events & News
- May 3 / London Review of Books editor Mary-Kay Wilmers is in conversation with Lewis Lapham at 192 Books about family histories. More
- Reader Survey Take the LQ reader survey! Your two cents will help us keep making history ...
- Editor’s Picks Beyond the Quarterly: LQ favorites and recommendations.
- Apropos
-
In Stir
- No Sex in the Prison Library c. 1965 / San Quentin, CA
- I Love You, but I Must Be Frank 1967 / San Quentin, CA
- Force-Feeding 1910 / Liverpool
No. 44
- Mandates of Heaven by Lewis H. Lapham
- Secular Revival by Warren Breckman
- The God in the Machine by Lewis H. Lapham
- New Subscription
- Gift Subscription
- Box Sets
- Back Issues
- LQ Store
- Renew Subscription
- Customer Service
- Blogs
-
- Déjà Vu Is history repeating itself? The Déjà Vu blog investigates... Stunt Doubles — A publicity stunt may have caused the crash of the Costa Concordia, and in 1926 a candy company wounds its intended audience. A Vision of Infinite Space — In 4th century China, the heavens were empty of substance, but the 21st century government has again committed to a space program. Cry Me A River — The people of North Korea mourn their leader passionately and violently, much like the mourners of Ancient Greece.
- Roundtable Insight and analysis from renowned writers and thinkers. Post Secrets — The young women of old New York had their mail monitored by parents and servants until they could visit that epistolary den of vice, the post office. Back Matter — “The world is a great volume, and man the Index of that Book.” The Myth of the Fourth Estate — We should think of reading the paper and watching the news as acts belonging to the world of ritual as much as the commerce of information.
- Audio & Video
-
LQ Podcast:
DARE Delve into the history of DARE, the Dictionary of American Regional English, with LQ contributor Simon Winchester and DARE chief editor Joan Hall.
- Eponym
-
Lewis H. Lapham
is Editor of Lapham's Quarterly. He also serves as editor emeritus and national correspondent for Harper's magazine.
- Recent Issues
-
-
The Family
2012: Winter
-
The Future
2011: Fall
-
Food
2011: Summer
-
Lines of Work
2011: Spring
-
Celebrity
2011: Winter
-
The City
2010: Fall
-
Sports & Games
2010: Summer
-
Arts & Letters
2010: Spring
-
Religion
2010: Winter
-
Medicine
2009: Fall
-
Travel
2009: Summer
-
Crimes & Punishments
2009: Spring
-
Eros
2009: Winter
-
Ways of Learning
2008: Fall
-
Book of Nature
2008: Summer
-
About Money
2008: Spring
-
States of War
2008: Winter
-