4 out of 4 stars
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I've often heard that "life is only as hard as you make it," but Valerian Ruminski takes that concept to a whole new level with Learning to Procrastinate! This short, hilarious novel is a call to arms (or, perhaps, a call to beds) for people all over the world to relax indefinitely.
In Learning to Procrastinate!, Valerian explores the glory of sleep while demonizing almost everything one might do in his or her waking moments. In fact, Valerian manages to explain that the world is so badly off because we're so busy in the first place. "Busy-ness," as he puts it, is the cause of global warming, war, the vast majority of deaths, overpopulation, hatred, and pretty much everything else that's bad.
The book is mostly a humorous romp through the joys of laziness, but it's also more poignant than I'd expected. For example, Valerian says that the ultimate form of protest would be to simply sleep. He says that if people stopped going to work, stayed home (aside from buying absolute necessities), and slept their days away, it would cause more fear for the rich than almost anything else.
The book is a blend of methods to avoid work (including a step-by-step guide on how to lay down, sleep, and then not get up for as long as possible), short, fictional narratives, and terrific quotes. Some of these quotes come from famous people, but most of the lines I enjoyed the most were from the author himself. His writing voice is perfectly laid back and casual, yet it's clear he polished everything he wrote into the most perfect form possible. He also references lots of real things, my favorite of which is John Cage's "4'33"," which is essentially 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence "played" by John Cage. I looked it up and, like Learning to Procrastinate!, it's far deeper than I initially thought! As Valerian says, it's the perfect anthem for "the slacker movement."
My rating of Learning to Procrastinate! is 4 out of 4 stars. It was hilarious, it made me think, and the writing was perfect aside from the three grammatical errors I found. I'd eagerly recommend it to anyone who needs to learn to take a break as well as those who love to relax. It's also a no-brainer for anyone who loves to laugh. It's less than fifty pages long, so those who don't normally read should have no problem with it either. Heck, I'll probably buy a few copies of this book for friends and family as a gag gift, then smile when they realize it's deeper than it appears at first glance.
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Learning to Procrastinate
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. But I am very much intrigued by this book and I want to read it. Great review.
