"Wear and Tear or Hints for the Overworked" is an essay by the American physician and writer S. Weir Mitchell on the topic of changes in the American style of living and nutrition. According to the author, the American society of the late 19th century became more obsessed with success and, thus, started to overlook such essential matters as nutrition and rest, both spiritual and physical. As a result of the quick tempo of life and bad food habits, the Americans started gaining weight, and it was a more obvious year after year compared to other nations, such as the English.

"Michaels has written a book that will be essential reading for all those interested in American fiction and American culture. . . . This is a daring, brash work of the best kind—it will be much discussed."—Philip Fisher, Brandeis University "Like Michel Foucault, Michaels locates the 'political' in the relations between individuals, in consciousness, and in language. His work represents a far more subtle, internalized, and unschematic conception of the convergence of literature and power than we have had in American studies. He is one of the most gifted practitioners of cultural criticism today."—Leo Marx, Massachusetts Institute of Technology