"He's only gone and hit the f***ing nail on the head!" -- Damien Hirst
"There is, as usual, some effort involved in holding up the book and turning the pages. This time, hurrah -- it's worth it!" -- Giles Foden, author of Ladysmith and The Last King of Scotland
"Hodgkinson glories in reminding us that idleness has a long tradition. Indeed, I was so impressed by his chapter on the virtues of the nap, that one sunny lunchtime I headed for the park to fall asleep in the sun - which I did, feeling gloriously guiltless and assertive about it." -- The Guardian
" In this beguiling book, [Hodgkinson] persuasively advocates idleness as the way to gain access to the creativity of the subconscious mind, or at least to enjoy a few beers." -- The Spectator
"The beauty of How to Be Idle is that while Hodgkinson is perfectly serious about the benefits of loafing, he sets out his stall with a light touch. He wants us to live slow and die old, but to do it with elegance." -- Scotland on Sunday
"Charming, as all idlers should be." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Hodgkinson, a partisan in 'the millennia-long battle between the materialists and the mystics, ' ...cares deeply enough for his subject to transcend its built-in cheekiness....In a rightly breezy style, Hodgkinson recommends stargazing, smoking, loafing in pubs, lying bed." -- East Bay Express
"You know you have uncovered a true literary gem when you annoy your family with an unceasing, unwanted, and uncontrollable laugh track while reading. In fact, the only thing I lamented about Tom Hodgkinson's irresistable How to Be Idle is that the author waited so long to publish this -- USA Today
"Great enjoyment . . . excellent jokes." -- New York Times Book Review
"Portraying history as an epic struggle between irritating go-getters and noble idlers, the book reads like a ramble through the centuries with a lanquid, likable companion who has scoured the world's libraries to validate his obsession." -- St. Petersburg Times
"Tom Hodgkinson's charming diversion on idleness is so persuasive that although I read it in June, it has taken me a month to return to the work ethic of my youth and review it. Filled with delightful anecdotes and quotes from famous and less known idlers -- some of whom produced a prodigious amount of work -- it is a joyful tribute to how we could live. ...[L]ovely, amusing...to be savoured, slowly." -- Providence Journal
