WAITING FOR THE WEEKEND by Witold...

WAITING FOR THE WEEKEND by Witold Rybczynski (Penguin: $10). This entertaining study traces the history of weekend activities and leisure time. The concept of a seven-day week is a surprisingly recent development: Most ancient systems of time-keeping were based on the phases of the moon, the seasons and the movements of the stars. The idea of a week that included a special day of rest came from the Judaic and Mithraic religions; the five-day work week is a 20th-Century invention. (“Free Saturdays” was one of the key demands during the Solidarity strikes at the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk in 1980.) Ironically, leisure time is not increasing with technological sophistication: Most North Americans have about 130 days off each year; the Hopi reserved more than half the year for leisure, while the Ashanti of Ghana celebrated almost 200 holidays. Rybczynski reports that one of the main reasons people in North America have less leisure time than predicted is the trend toward spending large sums of money on leisure-time activities. To pay for their Spandex bicycle shorts, trendy ski attire and top-of-the-line running shoes, people are working during hours that could otherwise be devoted to leisure.