New Book by Patricia Hampl

Congratulations to Regents Professor Patricia Hampl, who in April published her 10th book, The Art of the Wasted Day (Viking). This picaresque travelogue of leisure was written from a lifelong enchantment with solitude, finding that the real job of being human is getting lost in thought. The book has been reviewed at NPR, The Star Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and Kirkus Reviews. Professor Hampl has been interviewed in The Chicago Tribune and The Pioneer Press. In addition, she wrote the article "Baby Boomers Reach the End of Their To-Do List," adapted from the book, for the New York Times Opinion section. "An exquisite anatomy of mind and an incandescent reflection on nature, being, and rapture," noted ALA Booklist in a starred review. "Memoirist extraordinaire Hampl [is] a master of judiciously elegant vignettes and surprising, slowing unfurling connections."

From the book: "Because the detail is divine, if you caress it into life, the world lost or ignored, the world ruined or devalued, comes to life."