The Pleasures of Leisure

A terrifically lively and engaging conversation

The Book Club, ABC

This is a provocative and educative book and, to my mind, his best yet. There is the subtlety and sonorousness of the thought and language, the lightly worn erudition, the high-mindedness cloaked in self-deprecation, and a generous consideration of how an individual might live a larger life than the one ordained ... It takes a lifetime to understand the transcendent nature of frivolity, but who has that much time? We can always dream, and there is no better place to start than here.

Helen Elliott, The Monthly

Quietly outspoken and as companionable as ever, Dessaix draws freely on literature, film and his own memories, observations and experiences. The Pleasures of Leisure is an excellent discussion of the topic and also an invitation to the reader to indulge gainfully for a couple of hours or so in the activity the book illustrates so entertainingly and recommends with such persuasiveness.

Simon Caterson, Australian

In The Pleasures of Leisure, Robert Dessaix extols the virtues of doing less, with compelling insight and humour. He weaves an argument that we’ve lost the capacity to enjoy idleness and leisure. That, despite advances in science and technology designed to save us time, the unintended result has been that we have very little vacant time and no idea what to do with it. The argument rings true, and Dessaix is commanding with his incisive quips ... His voice is by turns cool and charming, perfunctory and punchy, intimate and witty, and the book is littered with philosophical and literary references on the subject at hand ... A revealing and funny book

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