'This is a quite remarkable book, a pleasure to read. Not only is it clear and informative but also by turns witty, melancholic and insightful. The book is astonishingly erudite, but wears this learning so lightly and so charmingly that it is both easy and gripping to read.' Robert Eaglestone, Royal Holloway, University of London Penelope waits by her loom for Odysseus, Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot, all of us have to wait: for buses, phone calls and the kettle to boil. But do we know what the checking of one's watch and pacing back and forth is really all about? What is the relationship between waiting and time? Is there an ethics of waiting, or even an art of waiting? Do the internet, online shopping and text messaging mean that waiting has come to an end? On Waiting explores such and similar questions in compelling fashion. Drawing on some fascinating examples, from the philosopher Henri Bergson's musings on a lump of sugar to Kate Croy waiting in Wings of the Dove to the writings of Rilke, Bishop, and Carver, On Waiting examines this ever-present yet overlooked phenomenon from diverse angles in fascinating style. On Waiting is the first book to present a philosophy of waiting. Philosophy/Literature

A brilliant exploration of the natural, medical, psychological, and political facets of fertility When Belle Boggs's "The Art of Waiting" was published in Orion in 2012, it went viral, leading to republication in Harper's Magazine, an interview on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, and a spot at the intersection of "highbrow" and "brilliant" in New York magazine's "Approval Matrix." In that heartbreaking essay, Boggs eloquently recounts her realization that she might never be able to conceive. She searches the apparently fertile world around her--the emergence of thirteen-year cicadas, the birth of eaglets near her rural home, and an unusual gorilla pregnancy at a local zoo--for signs that she is not alone. Boggs also explores other aspects of fertility and infertility: the way longing for a child plays out in the classic Coen brothers film Raising Arizona; the depiction of childlessness in literature, from Macbeth to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; the financial and legal complications that accompany alternative means of family making; the private and public expressions of iconic writers grappling with motherhood and fertility. She reports, with great empathy, complex stories of couples who adopted domestically and from overseas, LGBT couples considering assisted reproduction and surrogacy, and women and men reflecting on childless or child-free lives. In The Art of Waiting, Boggs deftly distills her time of waiting into an expansive contemplation of fertility, choice, and the many possible roads to making a life and making a family.

Why Does God Make Us Wait? And Wait… And Wait… In a fast-paced society, we don’t like waiting for anything. Drive-throughs and microwaves expedite dinner while texting and email afford instantaneous communication. Because we’re conditioned to expect instant gratification, we’re startled—even frustrated—when we have to wait. And perhaps we become spiritually frustrated, doubting our faith, when we find ourselves waiting on God. Bradley Baurain invites Christians to reject how society has conditioned us to view waiting—especially when it comes to knowing God. On Waiting Well identifies the experience of waiting as a crucial dimension to loving God, having faith, and following Christ. Your time doesn’t have to become passive, purposeless, or tedious when God seems to be absent or moving slowly. Instead, discover how waiting is actually integral to God’s plans of life and salvation. When we gain that perspective, these seemingly dry times of waiting become invigorating opportunities to strengthen our hope in God and see that He is always faithful.

A celebration of waiting throughout history, and of its importance for connection, understanding, and intimacy in human communication We have always been conscious of the wait for life-changing messages, whether it be the time it takes to receive a text message from your love, for a soldier’s family to learn news from the front, or for a space probe to deliver data from the far reaches of the solar system. In this book in praise of wait times, award-winning author Jason Farman passionately argues that the delay between call and answer has always been an important part of the message. Traveling backward from our current era of Twitter and texts, Farman shows how societies have worked to eliminate waiting in communication and how they have interpreted those times’ meanings. Exploring seven eras and objects of waiting—including pneumatic mail tubes in New York, Elizabethan wax seals, and Aboriginal Australian message sticks—Farman offers a new mindset for waiting. In a rebuttal to the demand for instant communication, Farman makes a powerful case for why good things can come to those who wait.

What is the relationship between waiting and time? Is there an ethics of waiting, or even an art of waiting? Do the internet, online shopping and text messaging mean that waiting has come to an end? On Waiting explores such and similar questions in compelling fashion. Drawing on some fascinating examples, from the philosopher Henri Bergson's musings on a lump of sugar to Kate Croy waiting in Wings of the Dove to the writings of Rilke, Bishop, and Carver, it examines this ever-present yet overlooked phenomenon from diverse angles in fascinating style.

We have all experienced a disconnect between God's promises to us and our everyday reality. We wait, without understanding why. We want to know God's plan so that we can trust it--but God so often hides his plan so that we will trust him. What can we do in the meantime as we are waiting for an answer, a change, or a miracle? With deep compassion, Wayne Stiles helps readers understand why God makes them wait. Unpacking the Old Testament story of Joseph, Stiles shows readers how to find comfort and opportunity in the time between God's promises and his answers, revealing the perspective-altering truth that sometimes when we think we are waiting on God, he is actually waiting on us. Anyone who has felt a disconnect between God's promises and their reality, who doesn't know what God wants them to do next, or who struggles with the brokenness of their world will find in Wayne Stiles a wise and trustworthy guide to finding peace in the pauses.

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