Boredom: A Lively History - Softcover

"A fun and illuminating argument for the benefits of boredom."-Angus Clarke, The Times -- Angus Clarke * The Times * "Toohey's book is a veritable boredom bible, plus it's got some funny bits and lots of nice pictures."-Chris Moss, Time Out -- Chris Moss * Time Out * "A lively, eminently readable book."-S. Halling, Choice -- S. Halling * Choice * "It's a brave author who chooses boredom as the subject for a book. How to describe this least glamorous of emotions, or delve into its essential qualities, without concocting a truly dull tract? Peter Toohey's method is to whip through the history, meaning and artistic representations of boredom at such a jaunty pace that there's no time to be bored at all."-Helen Zaltzman, The Observer -- Helen Zaltzman * The Observer * "....a playful but scholarly study."-Sunday Herald * Sunday Herald * "Highly entertaining."-Gordon Pitz, PsycCRITIQUES -- Gordon Pitz * PsycCRITIQUES * "[Toohey] makes a persuasive case that there are even benefits to boredom, and at the very least this engaging read proffers a temporary antidote to the noonday demon."-Kelly McMasters, Newsday -- Newsday * Kelly McMasters * "...... [Toohey] writes breezily and entertainingly about one of the world's most boring subjects: boredom itself."-Tim Heald, The Tablet -- Tim Heald * The Tablet * "In Boredom: A Lively History Peter Toohey, a professor of classics, makes a strong case for boredom as a universal emotion, experienced by humans throughout history and throughout all cultures, with many practical and emotional benefits."-Ian Sansom, The Guardian -- Ian Sansom * The Guardian * "Toohey has lots of exciting things to say about boredom."-Craig Brown, The Mail on Sunday -- Craig Brown * The Mail on Sunday * "...quirky and contentious."-Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday * "[Toohey's] crisp conversational prose is untainted by jargon or pretence. His arguments display impressive erudition: history, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience and aesthetics all get a guernsey. If good writing requires authorial boredom, Toohey was undoubtedly tortured by tedium while writing this sharp, humane and funny book."-Damon Young, The Australian -- Damon Young * The Australian * "A thoroughly enjoyable exploration of the history a maligned emotion, which according to the author, may actually be designed to help us flourish."-The Bookseller * The Bookseller * 'Who would have thought that boredom could be so stimulating?' - Michael Foley, author of The Age of Absurdity -- Michael Foley 'Forget ennui: Peter Toohey makes the case that the simpler, everyday kind of boredom we all experience is far more important than the pretentious world-weariness of French philosophers. Being bored can be excruciating, but it can also spur people to the heights of creativity. Toohey succeeds in making boredom interesting.' - Dylan Evans, author of Emotion: The Science of Sentiment -- Dylan Evans 'Peter Toohey is a wonderful scholar, whose work on classical literature both instructs and delights.' - Darian Leader -- Darian Leader "Mr. Toohey presents his case with verve."-Elizabeth Lowry, Wall Street Journal -- Elizabeth Lowry * Wall Street Journal * "Few writers on boredom can match Peter Toohey when it comes to finding pleasure, excitement and even a perverse kind of glee in his subject."-Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Daily Telegraph -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * The Daily Telegraph * "There are plenty of fine things here to keep a receptive mind alert."-Alain de Botton, The Times -- Alain de Botton * The Times * "Readers who are willing to meander from science to literature to art and other realms will find themselves engaged."-Nina C. Ayoub, The Chronicle Review -- Nina C. Ayoub * The Chronicle Review * "As for his engaging new book, Toohey needn't worry: Boredom, with its wise insights, is never boring."-Carmela Ciuraru, Boston Globe -- Carmela Ciuraru * Boston Globe *

A rich and stimulating exploration of one of our most maligned emotions and how it might actually help us flourish In the first book to argue for the benefits of boredom, Peter Toohey dispels the myth that it's simply a childish emotion or an existential malaise like Jean-Paul Sartre's nausea. He shows how boredom is, in fact, one of our most common and constructive emotions and is an essential part of the human experience. This informative and entertaining investigation of boredom-what it is and what it isn't, its uses and its dangers-spans more than 3,000 years of history and takes readers through fascinating neurological and psychological theories of emotion, as well as recent scientific investigations, to illustrate its role in our lives. There are Australian aboriginals and bored Romans, Jeffrey Archer and caged cockatoos, Camus and the early Christians, Durer and Degas. Toohey also explores the important role that boredom plays in popular and highbrow culture and how over the centuries it has proven to be a stimulus for art and literature. Toohey shows that boredom is a universal emotion experienced by humans throughout history and he explains its place, and value, in today's world. Boredom: A Lively History is vital reading for anyone interested in what goes on when supposedly nothing happens.