My father, who was a fervent admirer of Max Weber, imbued me with the Protestant work ethic long before I could even spell the word 'Kapitalismus', and I have been suffering from it ever since.
More than a decade into my retirement, I have finally found the right antidote: How to be Idle, a book by Tom Hodgkinson, the founding editor of The Idler, the celebrated magazine about the freedom and fine art of doing nothing.
In this wonderful book - my latest edition comes with added idleness! - Tom Hodgkinson presents his learned yet whimsical argument for a new universal standard of living: being happy doing nothing. He covers a whole spectrum of issues affecting the modern idler — sleep, work, pleasure, relationships — while reflecting on the writing of such famous apologists for it as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Nietzsche — all of whom have admitted to doing their very best work in bed.
I am taking time off from my idleness to read this very entertaining book in Riverbend's 'idleic' setting.
