Books for Idle Hours

"Books for Idle Hours is a well-written, carefully researched work on the history of the summer novel and summer reading. This is an important topic in the history of reading in America that has received little scholarly attention."—Tom Glynn, author of Reading Publics: New York City’s Public Libraries, 1754–1911

"This book’s research is impressive, including summaries of popular literature, both by known and unknown authors; the economics of nineteenth-century publishing; discourses generated by the literary press and marketing strategies; and the exploration of space and reading practices."—Ardis Cameron, author of Unbuttoning America: A Biography of “Peyton Place”