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Readers of this column occasionally
request books to put them to sleep. They don't want works that call
for a change of sleep-sabotaging behavior, medications, or other treatments,
but simply texts so boring they bring on slumber.
Yawn aims to be that book. Among its selections of ponderous
prose are President Clinton's Grand Jury Testimony, Nutrition Guidelines,
Practical Palmistry, Income Tax Instructions, and Airline Ticket Fine
Print.
Some articles focusing on sleep also made writer Ellen Stern's cut (none,
happily, by this reviewer). These include a report on "How to Get a
Good Night's Sleep," from the FDA Consumer; "Can Insomnia Affect
Your Quality of Life?," a syndicated news article, and "NASA Fatigue
Countermeasures," a scientific review of findings on scheduled cockpit
naps that appears on NASA's website. Stern also provides Halcion Dosage
Information, which she suggests is as soporific as the sleeping pill
it ordinarily accompanies.
This amusing collection may prove a popular holiday gift. But it may
not put you to sleep. Most sleep experts maintain that boring books,
talks, plays, and the like don't cause sleepiness. They simply unmask
it.
If you're not ready for sleep at bedtime, dull reading may prompt you
to seek other entertainment. That selection on "How to Get a Good Night's
Sleep" may prove useful after all.
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