How to Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto by Tom Hodgkinson

Title: How to Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto

Author: Tom Hodgkinson

Publication Date: 2005

No. of Pages: 286

Synopsis (from B&N): "From the founding editor of The Idler, the celebrated magazine about the freedom and fine art of doing nothing, comes not simply a book, but an antidote to our work-obsessed culture. In How to Be Idle, Tom Hodgkinson presents his learned yet whimsical argument for a new universal standard of living: being happy doing nothing. He covers a whole spectrum of issues affecting the modern idler—sleep, work, pleasure, relationships—while reflecting on the writing of such famous apologists for it as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Nietzsche—all of whom have admitted to doing their very best work in bed."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: Overall, I support the author's premise that people should take more time to be idle, that there's more to life than work and money and that sometimes the best thing you can do is goof off. The book wasn't what I expected -- I thought it would be funny (it's marked as "Humor" on the back cover), but it really wasn't. It was more a series of persuasive essays, which, since I agree with the author overall, ended up feeling like preaching to the choir. And there were some parts that I thought the author went completely off the deep end, most especially the chapter on work. There, what he was advocating was nothing short of the overthrow of the modern way of life and a change to some pie-in-the-sky fairy tale version of a socialist agrarian lifestyle. I'm all for balancing work and play and not letting your job/career define who you are, but I also believe work is necessary and can greatly contribute to a person's sense of worth and well-being, under the right circumstances. But apparently this author feels that work is always bad and that people should never do more work than is absolutely necessary to survive. Quite frankly, this chapter ticked me off so much that I wanted to throw the book out the window, but I kept at it and it did improve. I don't regret reading the book, but I also don't feel that I would have missed anything if I hadn't picked it up.

Would You Recommend This Book to Others: Unsure -- there were parts I liked, but it didn't make me laugh and I wouldn't read it a second time.

Challenges: Nonfiction 5 Challenge

Weekly Geeks questions: Care asked, "What prompted you to read this? Do you consider yourself someone who can enjoy being idle? Have you read or do you now want to read Bertrand Russell's In Praise of Idleness?"

I picked this book up as a lark, it sounded funny to me and I like to mix in nonfiction sometimes. I am absolutely someone who enjoys being idle, and I have no problem sitting and just enjoying the fact of being. I refuse to fall into the habit that so many have today of constantly being busy; I think it's just as important sometimes to stop and look around and let your mind wander. I have not read the Bertrand Russell book (incidentally, this book did reference that one several times), but I may add it to my TBR pile -- probably not near the top, though. Again, too much like preaching to the choir, and there are too many other books out there to learn new things from rather than reinforcing current ideas.