Another early review: Toro does the Idler

A second early review of the Idler's Glossary, this one in Toro:

A book to cosy up to this fall, and to locate strategically for choice toilet reading, is Joshua Glenn and Mark Kingwell's compact but chock full The Idler's Glossary. Think of it as a dictionary for the manifold varieties of sloth we humans have invented, enjoy, and in many instances deride. It includes a somewhat whimsical essay by philosopher Mark Kingwell – “Idling Toward Heaven: The Last Defence You Will Ever Need” – and Glenn's glossary proper, a witty though incomplete compendium of idler-specific words and phrases, everything from “couch potato” and “lotus-eater” to more obscure terms like “sinecurist”:

“For as long as bureaucracies have existed, there have been people eager to obtain offices and positions that require little or no work. However, although a sinecure is preferable (for obvious reasons) to a job that’s demanding, a sinecurist is a bird in a gilded cage: She may become too complacent to fly, even if the cage door is left open.” (p. 102).

I call this dictionary “incomplete” because Glenn has left out one of the more colourful and perhaps even popular terms for sloth: Dog-fucking. If you’ve ever worked a unionized job, you’ve likely met a few dog-fuckers, or have even fucked the dog yourself. Nevertheless despite the glaring (to me) omission, I found The Idler’s Glossary funny, informative, and not out of place on any bookshelf, or in any bathroom.