Format: Hardcover; ISBN: 0060779683; Release Date: May 2005; List Price: $18.95; Publisher: HarperCollins; Length: 286 pages. Condition: Good. Missing jacket and has significant shelfdust, but cover is still in overall good shape, binding is strong, and pages are otherwise unmarked. Same cover design as that shown here. Synopsis: There are few literary pleasures that can top sitting idly in a comfortable chair reading HOW TO BE IDLE. With chapter titles like "Sleeping In," "The Hangover," "The Idle Home," "Sex and Idleness," and "Sleep," Tom Hodgkinson writes eloquently in defense of idleness, which he sees not as a vice but as a much-needed antidote to the addiction to work that, he claims, plagues Western cultures. In his supremely English way, Hodgkinson argues for the joy of doing nothing, and marshals other writers in his noble cause, among them Oscar Wilde and Samuel Johnson. Complete with line drawings of people in various stages of idleness, HOW TO BE IDLE can be a valuable tool for the overworked, overscheduled, and overstressed. Priority Mail delivery for this item costs $6.00 at the request of a buyer. Otherwise, the shipping rate given here applies to orders shipped either First Class or Media Mail (depending on product type and package size) within the U.S. only. Orders consisting of multiple purchases packaged together ship by any of these delivery methods at a discounted rate, usually for only $1.00 per additional item plus the shipping fee for the first item (determined to be the one with the highest delivery charge). International buyers: please contact us with your destination country for applicable base shipping rates. Multiple purchases that are packaged together save shipping costs for you, too! Payment is expected within two weeks of placing your order for the first item within a shipment. Paypal is preferred, but money orders and checks (either personal or cashier's) are also accepted. Orders typically ship within 48 hours of PROCESSED payment, excluding weekends and holidays. Inquiries from all shoppers are responded to promptly and courteously. Buyers are encouraged to ask questions prior to placing orders, as all sales are final unless the product you receive differs significantly from that which was advertised here in terms of either the product itself or its promised condition. In other words, "buyer's remorse" does not qualify for a refund. In other words, ?buyer?s remorse? does not qualify for a refund. Exceptions are made only in the event that a buyer is willing to return at his or her own expense an unopened, BRAND NEW item for a refund of the original purchase price only. No original shipping costs will be refunded, unless we are at fault for sending you the wrong item or misrepresenting the product and/or its condition. This hasn?t happened yet, but if it does: you are guaranteed a refund of the purchase price, the original shipping fee, PLUS the cost to ship the item back to us. In addition, we promise that no retaliatory feedback will be left for negative comments received on such transactions. We stand behind our service, and accept responsibility for any mistakes made. Thank you for looking!