"Written sometime between 1330 and 1332, the Essays in Idleness hardly mirror the turbulent times in which they were born. Despite the struggle between the Emperor Go-Daigo and the usurping Hojo family which rocked Japan during these years, the Buddhist priest Kenko found himself with nothing better to do, jotting down at random whatever nonsensical thoughts have entered my head. The resulting essays, none of them more than a few pages in length and...