Are there literary uses for boredom?

I’ve read innumerable novels and stories that have slowly and surely
bored me to where I was ready to hurl the book through a window just to get it
as far away from me as possible. I’ve read recently a number of novels that
have been selected for prize shortlists--which would seem to remove them from
running in the boredom contest. Instead, I found myself wondering: what defines
when a work