Book Log 2006 #28: Doing Nothing by Tom Lutz

The lack of effort his 18 year old son puts into finding work, coupled with his own history of slack, leads Tom Lutz to take a tour through history to put those who mostly don't do anything into perspective. While the opening chapter is personal and quite specific, the following chapters take a broader historical perspective, giving examples of famed idlers through time and how they, as a class, we percieved by
their peers.

There's a pretty rich history of doing nothing, but I can't really tell you much about it after the 18th century, because that's where I stopped reading. I never really felt engaged with the book, and I'm not sure why. The material is interesting, and Lutz can certainly write. Maybe I just didn't find the historical material interesting enough. Or maybe it just didn't work with the start and stop pattern of commuter reading.

Anyway, if the topic sounds interesting it's worth a look. Let me know if you encounter similar problems with getting into the book.