Background
Books on play
The books on play behind this site, with one line on what each one is.
Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture
The classic study of play as older than culture itself. Most writing about play starts from it.
Man at Play
A short book on play in the Christian tradition, from the church fathers to the person who is grave and merry at once.
In Tune With the World: A Theory of Festivity
A short philosophy of the feast: why a real celebration depends on saying yes to the world as good.
A Theology of Play: Learning to Enjoy Life as God Intended
A recent theology of play and of what keeps adults from it. The first four of this site’s ten forces come from his list.
Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul
A psychiatrist’s case, from research on animals and people, that play is not optional for a healthy life.
Play Matters
A short book by a game scholar arguing that play is not always fun and reaches far beyond games.
Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up
Lessons from improvised theater for ordinary days: say yes, show up, and stop scripting the next scene.
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters
On hosting gatherings that matter, with a good chapter on the temporary rules that make a table playful.
The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life
A practical book, drawn from research, on making room for fun on purpose.
Free Time: The History of an Elusive Ideal
A historian’s account of why free time keeps slipping away even as people grow richer.
Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art
A wide study of the trickster in myth and art, and of the kind of play that breaks rules to make something new.