Editions

  • How to be Idle
    Paperback 2005
  • How to be Idle
    eBook 2007
Penguin Logo
  • Categories

    Fiction
    • Action & adventure
    • Classics
    • Crime, thrillers & mysteries
    • General fiction
    • Graphic novels
    • Romance
    • Poetry
    • Horror
    • Short stories
    • View all fiction
    Non-fiction
    • Art, architecture & photography
    • Biography
    • Business, economics & law
    • Food & drink
    • Health & lifestyle
    • History
    • Politics & philosophy
    • Science & nature
    • Sport
    • View all non-fiction
    Children's
    • 0 - 18 months
    • 18 months - 3 years
    • 3 - 5 years
    • 5 - 7 years
    • 7 - 9 years
    • 9 - 12 years
    • View all children's

    • Puffin

      Puffin

    • Ladybird

      Ladybird


    • Audiobooks
    • Gifts & boxsets
    • Must-reads of 2019
    • Books to kick-start 2019
  • Authors A-Z

    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G
    • H
    • I
    • J
    • K
    • L
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • P
    • Q
    • R
    • S
    • T
    • U
    • V
    • W
    • X
    • Y
    • Z
    • All Authors A-Z


    Featured Authors

    Lee Child

    Jojo Moyes

    Zadie Smith

    Carlo Rovelli

    Margaret Atwood

    James Patterson

    Yotam Ottolenghi

    Roald Dahl

  • Articles, Games and more...

    Articles
    • Recommendations
    • Features
    • Extracts
    • Quizzes
    • View all articles
    Children's articles
    • Recommendations
    • Extracts
    • Games & activities
    • Quizzes
    • View all children's articles
    Penguin Shop
    • Book bundles
      Book bundles
    • Penguin gifts
      Penguin gifts
    • Signed & special editions
      Signed & special editions
    • Writing workshops
      Writing workshops
    • View all
      View all

    • Events
    • Podcasts
    • Apps

    • Penguin Classics
    • VINTAGE
  • About Penguin Random House UK

    About Us
    • Overview
    • Company history
    • Leadership Team
    • News
    • Blogs
    Work with us
    • Authors
    • Careers
    • Rights and permissions
    • Penguin Living
    • Penguin Ventures
    • Sales & distribution
    • Student Design Award
    Publishing houses
    • Cornerstone
    • Ebury
    • Michael Joseph
    • Penguin General
    • Penguin Press
    • Penguin Random House Audio
    • Penguin Random House Children's
    • Transworld
    • VINTAGE
    Creative Responsibility
    • About Creative Responsibility
    • Reading
    • Community
    • Inclusion
    • Sustainability
    • WriteNow
    • Penguin Talks
    Contact us
    • Offices
    • Media contacts
    • Catalogues
  • Home
  • How to be Idle
How to be Idle
  • Imprint: Penguin

  • Published: 30/06/2005

  • ISBN: 9780141015064

  • Length: 368  Pages

  • Dimensions: 178mm x 22mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 230g

  • RRP: £9.99

How to be Idle

Tom Hodgkinson

  • Paperback
  • Ebook
  • Hive Waterstones Amazon

How to be Idle is Tom Hodgkinson's entertaining guide to reclaiming your right to be idle.

As Oscar Wilde said, doing nothing is hard work. The Protestant work ethic has most of us in its thrall, and the idlers of this world have the odds stacked against them. But here, at last, is a book that can help. From Tom Hodgkinson, editor of the Idler, comes How to be Idle, an antidote to the work-obsessed culture which puts so many obstacles between ourselves and our dreams. Hodgkinson presents us with a laid-back argument for a new contract between routine and chaos, an argument for experiencing life to the full and living in the moment. Ranging across a host of issues that may affect the modern idler - sleep, the world of work, pleasure and hedonism, relationships, bohemian living, revolution - he draws on the writings of such well-known apologists for idleness as Dr Johnson, Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson and Nietzsche. His message is clear: take control of your life and reclaim your right to be idle.

'Well written, funny and with a scholarly knowledge of the literature of laziness, it is both a book to be enjoyed at leisure and to change lives' Sunday Times

'In his life and in this book the author is 100 per cent on the side of the angels' Literary Review

'The book is so stuffed with wisdom and so stuffed with good jokes that I raced through it like a speed freak' Independent on Sunday

Tom Hodgkinson is the founder and editor of The Idler and the author of How to be Idle, How to be Free, The Idle Parent and Brave Old World. In spring 2011 he founded The Idler Academy in London, a bookshop, coffeehouse and cultural centre which hosts literary events and offers courses in academic and practical subjects - from Latin to embroidery. Its motto is 'Liberty through Education'.

Find out more at www.idler.co.uk.

  • Imprint: Penguin

  • Published: 30/06/2005

  • ISBN: 9780141015064

  • Length: 368  Pages

  • Dimensions: 178mm x 22mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 230g

  • RRP: £9.99


  • Share at

  • Facebook - facebook Facebook - facebook Facebook - facebook Facebook - facebook
  • Twitter - twitter Twitter - twitter Twitter - twitter Twitter - twitter
  • Pinterest - pinterest Pinterest - pinterest
  • Email - email Email - email
  • Whatsapp - whatsapp Whatsapp - whatsapp

More from this author

  • Business for Bohemians
    Business for Bohemians
    • Tom Hodgkinson
  • The Idle Parent
    The Idle Parent
    • Tom Hodgkinson
  • How to be Free
    How to be Free
    • Tom Hodgkinson

About the Author

Tom Hodgkinson

Tom Hodgkinson is the founder and editor of The Idler and the bestselling author of How to be Idle, How to be Free, The Idle Parent and Brave Old World. In 2011 he and his partner Victoria launched the Idler Academy of Philosophy, Husbandry and Merriment, a business which offers online and real-world courses in the liberal arts and practical skills, from philosophy and ukulele to business skills and singing. For a weekly update of news and comment from the world of The Idler, join Tom's mailing list at idler.co.uk

Tom Hodgkinson

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, offers and more 

  • Please enter an email.

    Please enter a valid email address

By signing up, I confirm that I'm over 16. To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy

Thank you for signing up to the Penguin Newsletter

Subscription failed, please try again

About us
  • Our company
  • Work with us
  • Getting published
  • Careers
  • Publishing houses
  • Creative Responsibility
  • Contact us
  • Send website feedback
Useful links
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & conditions
  • Help & FAQs
  • Gender pay gap report 2017
  • Industry commitment to professional behaviour
  • Permissions
Stay connected

Follow Penguin

  • Facebook Facebook
  • Instagram Instagram
  • Twitter Twitter
  • Youtube Youtube

Follow Puffin

  • Puffin Facebook Puffin Facebook
  • Puffin Instagram Puffin Instagram
  • Puffin Twitter Puffin Twitter
  • Puffin YouTube Puffin YouTube

Follow Ladybird

  • Ladybird Facebook Ladybird Facebook
  • Ladybird Twitter Ladybird Twitter
  • Ladybird YouTube Ladybird YouTube

Follow Penguin Random House UK

  • @PenguinRHUK Twitter link @PenguinRHUK Twitter link
  • @PenguinRHUK Instagram link @PenguinRHUK Instagram link
  • Penguin Random House YouTube link Penguin Random House YouTube link

© 1995 - 2019

Penguin Books Ltd.

Registered number: 861590 England.

Registered office: 80 Strand, London,

WC2R ORL UK.

Penguin Random House

Penguin Books Limited

A Penguin Random House Company.

We use cookies on this site and by continuing to browse it you agree to us sending you cookies.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here.