Oh, yes. I definitely do this, with books and movies and such.

No, but I will put something off for a few minutes so I can improve the environment, like move to a different chair, use a different light, turn music on or off depending, etc.

Absolutely.

No.

Absolutely not.

I do it with food--wait for just the right moment to have that special beer, or save the last of the milk to have with those cookies I've been waiting to eat until I really want them. Oh, man, that bacon chocolate bar is so good that I don't want to just scarf it down, so I'll keep it until I'm good and ready for some relaxed pleasure time. I know I'll want that last doughnut tomorrow morning more than I want it now, so I'll save it.

But then sometimes, like the guy in Sideways, I'll save something so long that it becomes sub-optimal, or my wife will see that I'm not eating the item, so she'll eat it. Some my desire to delay the gratification is that I am, indeed, waiting for just the right moment, but some of it is, I acknowledge, part of some deep-seated Puritanical guilt about self-indugence.

Delayed gratification is a better term. Prolonging joy isn't quite right. Delay would have been a better word. I wish I could delay food. If something good to eat is in the house, it's going to be scarfed down ASAP. Although I do love when I come home hungry and there is something delicious, like a leftover steak, in the fridge.

Absolutely. I hate that sinking feeling when you're really enjoying a book and you notice there are only ten pages left.

I used to eat cake by first eating all the cake part, then saving the frosting for last, all at once. Of course now that sounds gross, but then, it was my method of operation and very pleasurable.

(I saw the movie Housekeeping, and hated it. . .it was totally incomprehensible to me. . .I am assuming there is a lot in the book that isn't in the movie.)

I do that with food too, mrmoonpie--wait, I need to get my favorite blanket and book to go with my Friday-night Chinese food, and I won't start until everything is right. Once I was expecting a new book from Amazon and it didn't arrive, and the food was not nearly as pleasurable.

And don't get me started on dental work--I don't each much of anything at all that's yummy if there's something going on in my mouth like a tooth healing--won't even do the Chinese food.

You should see me eat a bowl of Lucky Charms. It takes me an hour.

I laughed out loud, eamondaly.

Yes, I do this with books. I'm getting close to the end of an incredibly enjoyable book and, whilst I want to know how it all turns out, I don't want it to end either.

Yes, I do this with lots of things I enjoy. ;)

Delayed gratification is a better term. Prolonging joy isn't quite right.

Oh, how funny --- I was immediately struck by your idea of "prolonging joy" and thought how apt the phrase was. When I postpone a pleasure, I usually do it precisely because I get pleasure from the expectation of indulging myself. I'm not delaying my gratification, I'm enhancing it!

I do this all the time, almost to the point of absurdity. I call it "letting [thing] ripen."

I've noticed I do this especially with shoes. If they're purely practical, I might wear them home from the shop. If I also love love love them, I usually wait a day or two to wear them. In the meantime, they're ripening.

When I buy a sweet or a chocolate, I often sit with it on my table or desk for an hour or two before I take a bite. I want to see it, smell its fragrance, appreciate it fully before I scarf it down. Last year my fancy Valentine's chocolates (15-20 pieces) lasted three weeks, because I got as much pleasure from looking forward to them as I did from eating them.

Very rarely, when an extraordinarily fine book or film is winding to an end, I stop it and start over from the beginning. Like I said, "to the point of absurdity."