Snooze

A profound exploration of the precious resource of sleep—and of the causes and consequences of getting too little of it.

Michael McGirr always had trouble sleeping. The arrival of baby twins, however, made him realize that he’d never before known true exhaustion. And while he celebrated these small children who brought him so much joy and tiredness, he found himself on a desperate and bone-weary journey in search of just a few extra winks a night. It was an adventure that would teach him more about what exactly sleep is, why we need it, and what it means when we don’t get enough of it.

In Snooze, McGirr delves into the mysterious world of sleep, including its many benefits, its stubborn elusiveness, and exactly what our brains really get up to while we’re in bed. He offers readers a tour through the odd sleep patterns of some of history's greatest minds, including Aristotle, Homer, Shakespeare, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Edison, and more. He looks, too, at the demise of sleep in our increasingly fragmented modern world—and examines what that means for everyone from the Average Joe in the workplace to those with serious sleep disorders.

The result is both entertaining and enlightening—the perfect book for those sleepless nights.

Michael McGirr is an essayist, reviewer, prize-winning short-story writer and teacher. A former Jesuit priest, he is also the author of Things You Get For Free and Bypass: The Story of a Road. He lives in Melbourne with his wife, Jenny, and their three rapidly growing children.