REVOLUTION? (via David Hill, The Bronx):

French heed call to stand up - er, sit down and start a revolution: A new book called 'Hello Laziness' has climbed France's bestseller lists. (Frank Renout, 9/15/04, CS Monitor)

In the country that practically invented joie de vivre - the joy of life - two-hour lunches and 35-hour work weeks fit like a silk beret.

But that life of leisure has come under assault of late. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin says that economic pressures will soon make the shortened work week a thing of the past.

Enter Corinne Maier, author of a hot new bestseller called "Bonjour Paresse" - "Hello Laziness." The humorous pamphlet is a passionate plea in favor of sloth. The subtitle says it all: "The art and necessity of doing the least possible in a corporation." Ms. Maier calls upon the French to sit down and relax at work. The young author has hit a nerve here, tapping into a backlash against the rat race. She promotes a calculated loafing only the French could love. Call it the new French Revolution - or as she says, a revolution from within.

"new"? The quintessence of the French Revolution is that you are entitled to get something for nothing.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 17, 2004 7:20 PM