Although I've only read a little over 1/2 the book, I'm calling this one done. I found almost nothing in this book to justify reading further. In the six weeks I had this checked out from the library, I struggled to read as much as I did. The writing style is satisfactory and the author draws from many interesting sources. The purpose of the book--to encourage people to enjoy their lives more fully--is noble. The main problem with this book is that it's much too specific. Rather than showing the reader possibilities for enjoying more idleness in their lives, it advocates rather strongly for a very particular lifestyle--that which Tom Hodgkinson enjoys. With chapters on topics such as hangovers, fishing and smoking, those who don't indulge in these activities (or even disdain them) are likely to find this book insipid and ego-centric. This book did not speak to me or my experiences. ( )

Hodgkinson breaks the day down, hour by hour, and systematically presents alternatives to the usual “rat race” activities. Why sit in traffic when you could be asleep or thinking big thoughts? Why work a 9-to-5 job when, as Hodgkinson proposes, humans are bred for flexibility and variety in their working life? Why go to bed early when you could be at the pub, engaged in meaningful conversation, or even dreaming up revolutions? Many people are put off by Hodgkinson’s romanticizing of the pre-industrial era, but if taken with a grain of salt, it can be made more palatable. A cross between Buddhism, anarchy, and a nostalgic longing for a bygone era, this book is not just a celebration of following your own path; it raises idleness to the level of a sacrament. ( )

This book made me think about life and how I'm living it (and for those who dislike it, at least read the last chapter, it has the most fuel for thought). Although I don't agree with him entirely I do think that we have become enslaved by the system and serve it rather than it serving us. Many of us live to work rather than work to live and we need to look at how we're living and decide if we really want to continue in misery or change things to suit us. We have moved, unthinking, into the 20th and 21st centuries, all the time moving faster, working harder, striving for something that might be within our grasp if we slowed down and thought about it.

Although I wouldn't be as idle as he espouses, I do think that I wouldn't mind down-shifting my life.

This book is a series of views on a variety of issues from smoking to napping, a book that encourages us to think about our lives rather than just put our lives in neutral and keep going. Agree with him or disagree with him, he made me think about how much of my life is spent rushing instead of enjoying. ( )

Picked this one up on a lark, and it's a been a life-changing, mood-altering kind of book for me. To hell with Steven Covey and his 7 habits. give me an ale and I'm off skiving. There's more to life than work. Ain't it a damn truth. ( )

Any book that endorses sleep and putting off everything possible until another day is for me.

'With advice, information, and reflection on such matters as lying in, long lunches, and the art of the nap. How to be Idle gives you all the inspiration needed to take a break from your fast-paced, overworked life.'

The whole book is soaked with nostalgia for the turn-of-the-century English gentleman's lifestyle. And that is an added treat for me. Although the book does have problems holding up it's tongue in cheek attitude and keeping the humor going. I'd say it was stretched out a few too many pages. Other than that, I find it enjoyable to skim through and pick out passages. ( )