{"product_id":"the-right-to-be-lazy-and-other-writings-paperback","title":"The Right to Be Lazy: And Other Writings - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePaul Lafargue\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eAlex Andriesse\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator), \u003cb\u003eLucy Sante\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNow in a new translation, a classic nineteenth-century defense for the cause of idleness by a revolutionary writer and activist (and Karl Marx's son-in law) that reshaped European ideas of labor and production.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eExuberant, provocative, and as controversial as when it first appeared in 1880, Paul Lafargue's \u003ci\u003eThe Right to Be Lazy\u003c\/i\u003e is a call for the workers of the world to unite--and stop working so much! Lafargue, Karl Marx's son-in-law (about whom Marx once said, \"If he is a Marxist, then I am clearly not\") wrote his pamphlet on the virtues of laziness while in prison for giving a socialist speech. At once a timely argument for a three-hour workday and a classical defense of leisure, \u003ci\u003eThe Right to Be Lazy\u003c\/i\u003e shifted the course of European thought, going through seventeen editions in Russia during the Revolution of 1905 and helping shape John Maynard Keynes's ideas about overproduction. Published here with a selection of Lafargue's other writings--including an essay on Victor Hugo and a memoir of Marx--\u003ci\u003eThe Right to Be Lazy\u003c\/i\u003e reminds us that the urge to work is not always beneficial, let alone necessary. It can also be a \"strange madness\" consuming human lives.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaul Lafargue\u003c\/b\u003e (1842-1911) was born in Santiago, Cuba, and lived there until the age of nine, when his family returned to their hometown of Bordeaux, France. In his early twenties, Lafargue began studying medicine in Paris, but after participating in a socialist gathering was barred from the French university system and left the country to continue his studies in London. There, he served as Karl Marx's secretary and married Marx's daughter Laura. Moving back to France in 1870, he participated in the Paris Commune and was again forced to flee the country, first to Spain and then to England. After amnesty was granted to the Communards in 1882, he and Laura returned permanently to France, where Lafargue gained notoriety as a writer of pamphlets and articles on politics and literature, founded the country's first Marxist labor party, and earned his law degree. On the night of November 26, 1911, he committed \"rational suicide\" with Laura at their home near Paris. Lenin spoke at their funeral. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLucy Sante\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eLow Life\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEvidence\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Factory of Facts\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKill All Your Darlings\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFolk Photography\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Other Paris\u003c\/i\u003e, and most recently, \u003ci\u003eMaybe the People Would Be the Times\u003c\/i\u003e. She translated Félix Fénéon's \u003ci\u003eNovels in Three Lines\u003c\/i\u003e and has written introductions to several other NYRB Classics, including \u003ci\u003eClassic Crimes\u003c\/i\u003e by William Roug­head and \u003ci\u003ePedigree\u003c\/i\u003e by Georges Simenon. A frequent contributor to \u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, she teaches writing and the history of photography at Bard College. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlex Andriesse\u003c\/b\u003e's stories, essays, and poems have appeared in \u003ci\u003eGranta\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Review of Contemporary Fiction\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eProdigal\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eLiterary Imagination\u003c\/i\u003e. He has translated several works from Italian and French, including Roberto Bazlen's \u003ci\u003eNotes Without a Text and Other Writings\u003c\/i\u003e and François-René de Chateaubriand's \u003ci\u003eMemoirs from Beyond the Grave, 1768-1800\u003c\/i\u003e (an NYRB Classic). He is an associate editor at New York Review Books.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 136\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.4 x 7.97 x 5.09 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 15, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51766203089184,"sku":"9781681376820","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/ea72ec2a92c2f096fb6d666cf69cd68c.webp?v=1780287429","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-right-to-be-lazy-and-other-writings-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}