The Art of the Siesta

This book is a series of vignettes on the importance of the siesta in paintings, literature, and sculpture. In "Preliminary," we hear of the rhythm of sleep, including the fear babies have of going to sleep. In "The Midday Demon," death in life and erotic dreams take form. The last vignette, "The Siesta Fights Back," shows how the economic necessities of Western society are conquering the siesta. This is a translation from the French of a book that reinstates the value of sleep in waking hours. From mosques, where guards sleep under the protection of Allah, to "slow-food" restaurants in Berlin in 2001, it explores the part sleep plays in human life.