Why Less Means More When Raising Kids

The Idle Parent

The Idle Parent is Tom Hodgkinson's radical parenting remedy against stifled, mollycoddled children. 
 
Modern life is wrecking childhood. Why can't we just leave our kids alone? 
 
If you've ever wondered why so many of today's children are unhappy, spoilt, stressed and selfish, then the answers and the remedy are to be found in The Idle Parent. 
 
Tom Hodgkinson wants us to leave our kids be, to give them the space and time to grow into self-reliant, confident, inquisitive, happy and free people. Full of practical tips of what to do and (more importantly) what not to do, Tom will not only help your kids be happier, but also help you, their parents, live happier and more fulfilled lives. 
 
'Wise, practical, funny, personal, it will make you a much better parent' Oliver James 
 
'An inspiring book, genuinely subversive. Time to put away "silly adult things" and embrace childhood in all its messy glory' London Lite 
 
'A recipe for bright, happy people with need of neither television nor shrink. Who could ask for more?' Evening Standard 
 
'An original, thought-provoking book' Toby Young, Mail 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.

Tom Hodgkinson is editor of The Idler and author of How To Be Idle and How To Be Free. He contributes a parenting column to the Daily Telegraph and writes for various newspapers and magazines. He lives on a farm in Devon with his family.

Why can't we just leave our kids alone? 
 
If you've ever wondered why so many of today's children are unhappy, spoilt, stressed and selfish - mini-adults, really - then the answers and the remedy are to be found in The Idle Parent. 
 
Tom Hodgkinson wants us to leave our kids be, to give them the space and time to grow into self-reliant, confident, inquisitive, happy and free people. Full of practical tips of what to do and (more importantly) what not to do, Tom will not only help your kids be happier, but also help you, their parents, live happier and stress-free lives.

How to be Idle

The Top 10 bestselling first opus from Tom Hodgkinson, in a new paperback package to go alongside its sequel, How To Be Free

How to be Idle is Tom Hodgkinson's brilliant guide to reclaiming 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 
 
As Oscar Wilde said, doing nothing is hard work. A burn-out 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. 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 affect the modern idler: 
-Sleep 
-Work 
-Pleasure and hedonism 
-Relationships 
-Bohemian living 
-Revolution 
 
Drawing on the writings of such well-known apologists for idleness as Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson and Nietzsche, his message is clear: take control of your life and reclaim your right to be idle.

Tom Hodgkinson was born in 1968. Since founding the Idler in 1993, he has been a frequent contributor to many newspapers and magazines and appears regularly on TV and radio to discuss 'idler' issues.  This is his first book.

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.

How to be Free

The witty and inspiring follow-up to the Top 10 bestselling How To Be Idle, How To Be Free is the perfect survival guide for a material world

How to be Free is Tom Hodgkinson's manifesto for a liberated life. 
 
Modern life is absurd. How can we be free? 
 
If you've ever wondered why you bother to go to work, or why so much consumer culture is crap, then this book is for you. Looking to history, literature and philosophy for inspiration, Tom Hodgkinson provides a joyful blueprint for a simpler and freer way of life. Filled with practical tips as well as inspiring reflections, here you can learn how to throw off the shackles of anxiety, bureaucracy, debt, governments, housework, supermarkets, waste and much else besides. 
 
Are you ready to be free? Read this book and find out. 
 
'One of the most provocatively entertaining, creatively subversive and, frankly, essential manifestoes of this or any moment' Time Out 
 
'Crammed with laugh-out-loud jokes and witty put-downs . . . acts as a survival guide for everything from the government to housework. Random in its details, essential in its advice' Knave 
 
As a follow-up to his charming How to be Idle, Tom Hodgkinson offers nothing less than a manifesto of resistance to the modern world' Guardian 
 
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.

Tom Hodgkinson was born in 1968 and is the author of the bestselling How To Be Idle. He is editor and co-founder of the Idler and contributes to the Sunday Telegraph, Guardian and Sunday Times. He also imported absinthe for a while. He lives in Devon with his family.

Have you ever wondered why you bother to go to work? Why so much of consumer culture is crap? Whether there might be a better, freer, happier way to live our lives? If so, this book is for you. Following up his cult bestseller How To Be Idle, Tom Hodgkinson takes us on an inspirational journey towards true freedom and happiness. Read How To Be Free and learn how to throw off the shackles of anxiety, bureaucracy, debt, governments, housework, moaning, pain, poverty, ugliness, war and waste, and much else besides.

Tom Hodgkinson

Extremely funny... Add this wry and helpful book to your reading list

It reads like a dream... Tom genuinely makes me feel good about striving for happiness over money, security and status

Brilliant. An exceedingly readable and useful handbook for those who choose to make the leap and control their own destiny

Luke Johnson, former chairman, Channel 4 and Pizza Express

Is it possible to make money while you're asleep? Sure it is, this book might just give you some ideas how

Indispensable to those of us whose eyes start to close at the thought of a spreadsheet

Finally, a business book that celebrates free spirits... Even chapters about accounting and spreadsheets are rollicking reads

A perceptive and useful book that will be genuinely helpful for anyone thinking of starting a business

Funny, intelligent, irreverent and practical, this is everything you need from a great book about business and loads more besides. Once you've picked this up you won't want to put it down; and you can't say that about many business books

Charles Gladstone, founder, Pedlars and the Good Life Experience

Business for Bohemians is the must-have handbook for people like me, trying to reconcile how to live a life of creative freedom and expression with the pressing need to also make a living and therefore negotiate the thickets of business bullshit. It made me feel I was not alone in trying to do so - and it's a rather gripping read to boot

James Studholme, founder, Blink Productions

A joy to read... If you need to get control of your business this is a great book. If you are already in control, it will remind you what works and to keep on going. It's also very, very funny

Live Well, Make Money

Everyone should work for themselves. But don't cashflow forecasts, tax returns and P&amp;Ls all sound a bit of a faff? 
 
Fear not: help is at hand. In Business for Bohemians, Tom Hodgkinson combines practical advice with laugh-out-loud anecdote to create a refreshingly candid guidebook for all of us who aspire to a greater degree of freedom in our working lives. 
 
Whether you dream of launching your own startup or profiting from your creativity in your spare time, Business for Bohemians will equip you with the tools to turn your talents into a profitable and enjoyable business. Accounting need no longer be a dark art. You will become au fait with business plans and a friend of the spreadsheet. You will discover that laziness can be a virtue. Above all, you will realize that freedom from the nine-to-five life is achievable - and, with Hodgkinson's comforting, pragmatic and extremely funny advice at hand, you might even enjoy yourself along the way.

Business for Bohemians

About us

About Us (Header 4)

Best-Jane-Austen-quotes_Online-Desktop_Penguin

James-Baldwin

Marian-Keyes

haruki-murakami-320×320-1

Richard-Osman

Malorie Blackman

Lisa-Jewell

Charlie-Mackesy

Authors (Header 3)

Children&#039;s

Company

Discover

Fiction

Non-fiction

Penguin Classics

Penguin Shop (Header 5)

Useful links

Work with us

sectionTitle

isEnabled

anchor

anchorLabel

prhuk/featured-book

prhuk/praise-section

maxBooks

showViewMore

prhuk/books-section

hideAuthorAlert

formName

iterableDivision

iterableBrand

buttonText

description

heading

legalText

successHeading

successText

image

alignment

variation

prhuk/email-section

prhuk/series-section

prhuk/biography-section

prhuk/articles-section

prhuk-authors

The perfect gift? A Penguin Shop gift card

Tom Hodgkinson

Praise for Business for Bohemians

Extremely funny... Add this wry and helpful book to your reading list

It reads like a dream... Tom genuinely makes me feel good about striving for happiness over money, security and status

Brilliant. An exceedingly readable and useful handbook for those who choose to make the leap and control their own destiny

Extremely funny... Add this wry and helpful book to your reading list

It reads like a dream... Tom genuinely makes me feel good about striving for happiness over money, security and status

Brilliant. An exceedingly readable and useful handbook for those who choose to make the leap and control their own destiny

Extremely funny... Add this wry and helpful book to your reading list

It reads like a dream... Tom genuinely makes me feel good about striving for happiness over money, security and status

Brilliant. An exceedingly readable and useful handbook for those who choose to make the leap and control their own destiny

Books by Tom Hodgkinson

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter