Though we have hundreds of entertainment options today--video games, the Internet, CD and MP3 players, home entertainment centers, sporting events, megamalls, movie theaters, and even robotic toys--Western culture is battling an insidious disease. It's an epidemic of boredom.Intrigued by this "deadness of soul," Richard Winter uses the latest historical, physiological and psychological research to probe the nature, causes and effects of boredom. He explores

• why some people are more likely to get bored than others
• the indifference and the loss of meaning among youth
• the attraction of extreme sports
• how advertising promotes apathy
• the link between boredom and addictions to violence and pornography

Not satisfied with mere description and analysis, Winter also offers practical ways to counteract boredom by learning to live with passion and wonder. So don't just turn on the TV, surf all the available channels and complain "there's nothing on." Instead, read this book!

Dr. Richard Winter, husband and father of four grown children, is a psychotherapist, counselor and professor of practical theology at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. A native of Britain, he trained in medicine and psychiatry in England and has lived in the United States since 1992. His books include Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment and Perfecting Ourselves to Death.