BookshopA Philosophy of BoredomLars Fredrik Svendsen; translation by John Irons Reaktion Books, 192pp, £14.95 ISBN 1861892179 Reviewed by Tom Hodgkinson Lars Svendsen's inquiry is a good, solid practical work of philosophy, in the tradition of Aristotle's Ethics and Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. He has a light touch and a playful attitude, and draws on a wide range of texts, from Martin Heidegger and Samuel Beckett to Iggy Pop and the Pet Shop Boys. The opening section is particularly strong. I was fascinated to learn that boredom was invented in 1760; the word is not found in English prior to this,...