From the publisher’s description:
This book offers a witty explanation of why boredom both haunts and motivates the literary imagination. Moving from Samuel Johnson to Donald Barthelme, from Jane Austen to Anita Brookner, Spacks shows us at last how we arrived in a postmodern world where boredom is the all-encompassing name we give our discontent. Her book, anything but boring, gives us new insight into the cultural usefulness–and deep interest–of boredom as a state of mind.
Spacks, Patricia Meyer (Trustee; NHC Fellow, 1982–83; 1988–89). Boredom: The Literary History of a State of Mind. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996. ISBN 9780226768540.