Born losers : a history of failure in America / Scott A. Sandage.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sandage, Scott A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social values--United States--History--19th century.

Social values.

Losers--United States--History--19th century.

Losers.

Failure (Psychology)--United States--History--19th century.

Failure (Psychology).

Capitalism--Social aspects--United States--History--19th century.

Capitalism.

Identity (Psychology)--United States--History--19th century.

Identity (Psychology).

Stigma (Social psychology).

Social status--United States--History--19th century.

Social status.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (375 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

History of failure in America

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This is a pioneering work of American cultural history, which connects everyday attitudes and anxieties about failure to lofty ideals of individualism and salesmanship of self. Sandage's storytelling will resonate with all of us as it brings to life forgotten men and women who wrestled with The Loser--the label and the experience--in the days when American capitalism was building a nation of winners.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Prologue: Lives of Quiet Desperation

1. Going Bust in the Age of Go-Ahead

2. A Reason in the Man

3. We Are All Speculators

4. Central Intelligence Agency, since 1841

5. The Big Red Book of Third-Rate Men

6. Misinformation and Its Discontents

7. The War for Ambition

8. Big Business and Little Men

Epilogue: Attention Must Be Paid

Notes Acknowledgments Index

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

"Born losers began as as a 1995 doctoral dissertation at Rutgers University".

Includes bibliographical references (p. 281-341) and index.

ISBN:

9780674267022

0674267028

9780674043053

0674043057

OCLC:

646811701