Endangered Pleasures: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences

The subtitle of this book hooked me in like a bigmouth bass: "In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences" Other pleasures covered by Ms. Holland include bare feet, coffee, staying in, and undressing (for comfort, not sex -- think flannel bathrobe).

I have to quote a passage from her piece on "Happy Hour." If it doesn't make you want to bolt from your office chair and head for the nearest watering hole, I'm sorry for everyone involved:

"For the perfect happy hour, it should be summer, blistering hot, the street clogged with ill-tempered rush-hour traffic and the melting asphalt soft underfoot. Our workday should have been frantic but ultimately successful. After the glare outside, the bar should be almost pitch show more dark, icily air conditioned and smell of black leather banquettes, and we should be meeting someone there . . . Then, knees touching, neck muscles relaxing, brow drying in the cold dry air, we should drink. Certain things were put upon the earth for our enjoyment, and it's wasteful and wicked to contemn them."

Bravo, Ms. Holland. show less

A collection of short essays, nostalgic for indulgences that are going out of style. Barbara Holland has a sharp wit and writes beautifully, lovingly describing pleasures of the table, laziness, drinking and smoking. She all the while laments and lampoons our increasingly Puritanical and health conscious society. Light, quickly read, enjoyable

This book was recommended to me by a woman I met through the internet. We traveled together to visit another internet friend. We already knew we had many things in common, but we discovered many more on our three day trip.
For instance, martinis, "Certain things were put upon this earth for our enjoyment,and it's wicked and wasteful to condemn them."
Barbara Holland has compiled a series of essays in celebration of the things many people think of as forbidden or at least slightly wicked. She has a wonderful turn of phrase and will keep you laughing for however long you decide to 'waste time' lingering in the pages of her book.

Holland has a nice light touch with essays. I think they are probably better read, however, in a periodical than in a book. At any rate, I found I could only read one at a sitting, and it was very easy to forget to pick up the book to read the next one!

This is a great "bathroom" book, or a nice addition to the guest room bookcase.

Really a fun read. So many little pleasures (naps, cocktails, swearing) that the busy pace of modern life is stealing away from us.

Work a pleasure? Well, yeah, sometimes it is. Many things to learn in here. Sagacious and funny.

This was a bit erudite..... and I was really just bored....... I'm not sure, but to me, the author sounded like an elitist from another era.....