The Book Of Idle Pleasures
By: Dan Kieran and Tom Hodgkinson
Andrews McMeel Publishing (May 18, 2010)
224 pages
The Book Of Idle Pleasures is a book that encourages you to slow down. It points out, page by page ways that you can – today – stop and enjoy a bit of idle time. In our busyness, there are moments that we are overlooking. Moments that could give a few minutes of respite: Staring at a fire. A cup of tea. A short walk. Staring out a window. Meandering a library. Lying in a hammock. Stop, take a deep breath, and start today.
Two of my favorite quotes:
Of all the free pleasures out there for the taking, the nap is the easiest and the most satisfying. Traditionally taken at noon or the sixth hour — hence the word siesta—in order to sleep through the visits of the noonday demons, the postlunch doze is an everyday reality for those living in less work-obsessed countries.
What is it about maps and globes that seems to require our undivided attention? I’ve spent hours looking at maps of places I will never see and maps so old that they are a record of nothing but the faintest glow of the past. Perhaps they turn us into gods, letting us look down at the insignificant drones that occupy the earth. Or maybe they simply feed off our hunger to go off into the unknown. Venturing off to places where people don’t chain themselves to tedious jobs and absurd financial debts but places of imagination, mystery, and freedom.
