Rybczynski ( Home ) traces the evolution of the seven-day week back to the Babylonian calendar and, more recently, to the Great Depression, when the two-day weekend became institutionalized in the U.S., with shorter work hours viewed as an antidote to unemployment. The common 19th-century European practice of ``keeping Saint Monday,'' or not working on Monday, paved the way for the modern weekend, which the author sees as a reflection of our mechanized culture: ``We want the freedom to be leisurely, but we want it regularly . . . like clockwork.'' In an enchanting, strikingly profound meditation on the relationship between leisure and labor, Rybczynski investigates holy days, precursors of modern holidays, and sketches a social history of reading, TV-watching and gardening. His beautifully written book is full of interesting tidbits: the Japanese language has no word for leisure; 22 million Americans work more than 49 hours a week. (Aug.)
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![Waiting for the Weekend](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.8.5)
Waiting for the Weekend
![Waiting for the Weekend](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.8.5)
Waiting for the Weekend
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940169906837 |
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Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
Publication date: | 11/15/2011 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
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