Foreign thinker
Tom Lutz
Tom LutzLiterary criticism, essay writing, and cultural studiesAmericanb. 1953
Aimlessness is a method, just as much as mathematics is a method.
In their times
Open in the Timeline of Thought
Life and Thought
Tom Lutz is an American writer, literary critic, and scholar and the founder of the Los Angeles Review of Books. In his interdisciplinary works, he examines subjects such as crying, idleness, travel, and aimlessness through the lenses of cultural history, literature, and personal experience.
Tom Lutz was born in the United States on March 21, 1953. Before entering academic life in earnest, he worked in a variety of occupations, including cooking, carpentry, and music. Lutz later studied English and journalism and earned his master’s degree and PhD in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University. He has taught at institutions including the University of Iowa, the University of Copenhagen, the California Institute of the Arts, and the University of California, Riverside.
Lutz is the founding editor and publisher of the Los Angeles Review of Books, which was launched in 2011 and became a major platform for contemporary literary and cultural criticism. He also helped establish its radio program, quarterly journal, publishing imprint, and educational workshop.
His best-known nonfiction books include Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears, Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America, And the Monkey Learned Nothing, Drinking Mare’s Milk on the Roof of the World, The Kindness of Strangers, and Aimlessness. Doing Nothing received the American Book Award. In addition to cultural history and travel writing, Lutz has published novels and collections combining photography with short essays.
In Aimlessness, Lutz explores the value of wandering, lingering, waiting, daydreaming, and remaining open to the unexpected. Drawing on literature, philosophy, art, and travel experience, he questions the modern culture of constant goal-setting and productivity. For Lutz, aimlessness does not necessarily mean inertia, irresponsibility, or an absence of meaning. It can instead serve as a method for discovering new possibilities, forming unexpected connections, and cultivating creativity.
Lutz’s works typically combine personal narrative, historical research, literary criticism, and cultural studies. By attending to experiences undervalued by mainstream culture, he shows how seemingly ordinary subjects—crying, idling, wandering, and encountering strangers—can open paths toward understanding both individuals and society.