Top ten books about idleness

Josh Cohen is a professor of modern literary theory at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a psychoanalyst in private practice. He is the author of many books, including the newly released Not Working: Why We Have to Stop.

One of his ten top books about idleness, as shared at the Guardian:

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

Moshfegh’s novel, published last year, reads a bit like a baroque rewriting of [George Perec's] A Man Asleep. The unnamed narrator’s elaborate project to self-induce a year-long sleep with prescription drugs and withdraw from the vapid New York of money, bad art and worse parties takes us through various narrative detours – a needy friend, a hideous ex, a mad psychiatrist – on the way to oblivion. Few novels have conveyed so powerfully the urge, induced by our culture of permanent visibility and stimulation, to shut down.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue