Spectatoritis by Jay B. Nash (Edited as Christopher Fennell)

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Published in 1938, Nash laments that while machines have opened up more significant amounts of leisure time for the country's citizenry, people use that time for increasingly passive and monotonous theater. He dubs this plague "spectatoritis," warning that it will bring about the downfall of civilization if not curbed. For, he argues, every human needs natural rejuvenation from work or will succumb to various mental and physical ills., Nash writes that we need a "philosophy of leisure" that can guide people to use their spare time in more fulfilling ways.

Out of print for decades, Nash's work is being brought back in the modern age, a time when his words are needed the most.