Work hard and you shall be rewarded : urban folklore from the paperwork empire / Alan Dundes and Carl R. Pagter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dundes, Alan.

Contributor:

Pagter, Carl R., 1934-

Series:

Humor in Life and Letters Series

Standardized Title:

Urban folklore from the paperwork empire

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Office practice--United States--Folklore.

Office practice.

Urban folklore--United States.

Urban folklore.

American wit and humor.

United States--Social life and customs--1971-.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (249 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Detroit : Wayne State University Press, c1992.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Anyone who has ever filled in a form in triplicate, taken an aptitude test, or been rebuffed by a form letter will appreciate the urban folklore found in this collection. Urban people as a folk are bound together by their unhappy experiences in battling "the system," whether that system is the machinery of government or the office where one works. The wonderfully expressive materials in this book-chain letters, memoranda, notices, and cartoons-touch upon every major controversy of urban America: racism, sex, politics, automation, alienation, welfare, the women's movement, military mentality, and office bureaucracy. The humor of the materials pinpoints the ills and frustrations of modern society and becomes, in turn, an escape from them.

Contents:

""Cover""; ""Contents""; ""Preface""; ""Preface to the First Edition""; ""Introduction""; ""TRADITIONAL LETTERS""; ""DEFINITIONS AND PRINCIPLES""; ""NOVEL NOTICES AND MEMORABLE MEMOS""; ""APPLICATIONS AND TESTS""; ""FOLK CARTOONS AND DRAWINGS""; ""THE EXTENDED DOUBLE ENTENDRE""; ""CONCLUSIONS""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

ISBN:

0-8143-3741-4

OCLC:

849944682