Quotes
“Jessica Kerwin Jenkins shows us how abundant a source of wisdom the
history of civilization can be for constructing our days—month by month,
minute by minute—into an artful and mindful cosmos of activity and
repose.” BookPage
“This lovely and lovingly researched literary gem encompasses diverse eras and cultures and reveals a world of ‘fancies’ and intriguing bits of history…There is much to contemplate and marvel over in Jenkins’ scholarly and highly entertaining book of exuberance.” Booklist (starred review)
“This compendium of cultural curiosities delivers equal parts education and inspiration with a lively voice and a tasteful nostalgia for slower, more deliberate, and arguably more entertaining times. When the clock ticks, the scene shifts to a new and delightfully unexpected snippet of history. The morning hours bring pancakes (complete with gluten-free recipe), midday watches the slow demise of the siesta, and giddy dancers waltz toward midnight. The cast ranges from the glamorous to starving artists to far-flung ancients…An insightful and contemplative study in culture and all its frivolous progress.” Publishers Weekly
“A literary excursion around the clock and through the year in miniature essays about a host of diverse, fanciful topics…In its chronological presentation, there are more than seventy-five chunks of oddities of civilization from, for example, the mounting taste for coffee to old Shanghai’s cabarets…A small cabinet of wonder, detailing some diverting oddments and minutiae of past times.”
Kirkus Reviews