breakfast & driving

Breakfast with Socrates takes you through an ordinary day in the company of some extraordinary ideas. From waking up in the morning, through going to work, shopping, visiting the gym, going to a party, having sex, and falling back to sleep, it provides an hour-by-hour commentary, drawn from the history of ideas.

Hailed as ‘joyously wise’, Breakfast with Socrates: the philosophy of everyday life is out with Profile Books in the UK, Free Press in the US, and has been translated into seventeen languages.

breakfast & driving

Drawing on philosophy, art, literature and psychology, Driving with Plato explores the meaning of the hoops we all jump through. You’ll hear from Aristotle on starting school, learn from Heidegger about moving house, and get tips from Proust on becoming wise in your old age.

Reviewed as ‘fascinating and deeply impressive’, Driving with Plato: the Meaning of Life’s Milestones is also out with both Profile Books in the UK, Free Press in the US, and is being translated for publication around the world.

PRAISE FOR BREAKFAST WITH SOCRATES

`Philosophy made accessible and applied to the quotidian...manages to be funny without underestimating the reader.'

The Financial Times

‘The author is genuinely good at making connections between important ideas and lived experience, and successful in showing that philosophy can be a vehicle for making the trivialities of life more meaningful (and hence more bearable) than they otherwise might be.’

Booklist

‘I...delighted in the insights and asides he packs into Breakfast With Socrates.’

Management Today

`Smith has written a remarkable book... joyously wise.’

Church Times

‘This book's for anyone who enjoys questioning life.'

Scarlet magazine

‘Takes us on an extraordinary philosophical tour of an ordinary day ... Who said philosophers aren't practical?’ Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, authors of Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar

‘This charming book wears its erudition with ease and suggests that despite what Socrates says, it is in fact the unexamined day that is not worth living.’

Publisher’s Weekly

‘Rowland Smith supposes his reader is his social and intellectual equal who just happens not to have studied the discipline he did. Taking an aspect of daily life in each chapter - getting out of bed, going to work - he explains key concepts in a way that is amusing and enlightening. He doesn't apply the concepts for his readers but allows them to draw their own conclusions.’

The Australian

‘Clever, witty and eminently readable...Fine writing.’

Rowland Manthorpe, author of Confidence

‘...a very knowledgeable and affable guide.’

Bookbag

‘I am often asked to recommend a good introduction to philosophy - now I've discovered one. There are plenty of books but mostly they're either the 'wrong kind' of philosophy or they are terribly written. Smith's work is witty, inventive and intelligent - Carl Schmitt on arguing with your partner, Jacques Derrida on booking a holiday - and brilliantly shows how grounded High Theory really is.’

Times Higher Education Supplement

‘Smith does not argue for one idea over another but applies the theories in an interesting and sometimes lighthearted manner...The author's accessible writing style and presentation will make this book appealing to readers with a general interest in philosophy or those looking to add some humor and meaning to the ordinary events in their lives.’

Library Journal

‘Makes for a really stimulating read...It really gets you thinking’

Helen Stubbs on World Radio Switzerland

‘...a very thoughtful and continuously entertaining picture of human behavior. Smith adequately and expertly matches the right classical mind or system of thought with each chapter subject without making it seem like a stretch. Rooted deeply in philosophy and psychology, the book is never too complex or confusing that anyone with a normal level of reading comprehension would have a problem with.’

wired.com

‘Smith, in this generous exposition, furthers the case for the carefully examined life.’

Los Angeles Times

‘Brilliant.’

El País Semanal

‘...what makes Smith’s book genius isn’t just the ability to lay out an interesting, eloquent, and relevant piece of work – which he admittedly does. No, the kicker for “Breakfast with Socrates” is that it’s just plain funny...If humor is the best part of Smith’s book – and it might just be – then eloquence and neutrality tie for second place. It’s rare to see so many competing ideas on the same page, not just for the sake of summary, but in order to make a point. Smith completely wins us over to one way of thinking – and then turns us on our heads and makes us see things in a completely different light.’

Christian Science Monitor

‘We are always on the lookout for books which creatively explore the meaning of our everyday activities. Breakfast with Socrates fills the bill and does so with considerable breadth and depth. Smith gives philosophy a new burst of energy by taking it off the esoteric shelf and putting it back into circulation on the streets.’

spiritualityandpractice.com

‘Smith excels at teasing out the idiosyncrasies of modern experience’

AARP Magazine

‘a wonderfully easy introduction to philosophy that leaves the reader better than she started and seeking more.’

Sacramento Book Review

‘Entertaining and challenging, this book is designed to generate contemplation and reflection on how we live our lives and what it means in terms of small experiences as a collective whole.’

M/C Reviews

‘Providing practical, extraordinary and sometimes fanciful connections with ordinary life experiences, this book is a must read not just for deep thinkers, but also for those individuals who sometimes wonder what life’s daily routines are all about.’

Daily Titan

‘This charming book manages its way into our deepest thoughts about life with ease and informality. Inviting and unloaded...a huge appetite is not required but do expect to be well fed!’

Good Book Guide

‘I’m impressed with this book. It provides an unusual take on philosophy and one that promises a bit of fun and interest whatever your level of theoretical knowledge.’

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Non-fiction that applies philosophy, literature and psychoanalysis to everyday life.

PRAISE FOR DRIVING WITH PLATO

‘Take a seat and become thoroughly absorbed in this fascinating journey. Great stuff.’ Frank Furedi

‘If we could see the wilder reaches of philosophy applied to real life, what then? Robert Rowland Smith has not only asked this question but answered it in this fascinating and deeply impressive book.’ Daily Mail

‘I'll never drive the same way again. Or have a midlife crisis the same way again, for that matter. This book is elegant proof that philosophy doesn't have to be fusty and musty.’ A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically

‘I can honestly say that the book made me think of events afresh, so not only will this book entertain you, educate you and amuse you, it may very well help you stay younger, longer. Now if that's not a compelling reason to read this book, I don't know what is.’ Bookbag

‘A friendly guide to "the meaning of life's milestones" from birth, to learning to walk, starting school and on to passing your driving test, marrying and having a mid-life crisis, retiring and dying.’ The Guardian

‘Smith has the suave wit of the professional intellectual. Driving With Plato divvies life up into 20 significant events, from learning to ride a bike to retirement, and offers on each a pert 10-page essay. In spite of the Plato reference, his sources are not limited to the toga-wearing. The title chapter on learning to drive, for example, ranges from a meditation on freedom, Virginia Woolf and the film Thelma and Louise, through how machines challenge what it means to be human, to the Romantic idea of the quest – then back to freedom again, whereupon he makes the nice observation that the driving licence represents a kind of “false liberty” as it is only conferred when you have proven that “you’ve internalised your instructor’s instructions”...Erudite and allusive.’ The Financial Times

‘By dint of a remarkably smooth and inviting style, the author offers genuinely novel ways of thinking, not only about our everyday life but also about philosophy. A remarkably varied and eclectic introduction to the great philosophers and a defense of their continuing relevance to our everyday lives.’ Publishers Weekly

‘This appealing, readable and thought-provoking mashup of musings touches on everything from virginity (Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” the movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Christ and Leonardo da Vinci are cited) to the midlife crisis (Nietzsche, menopause, Greek myths, gray hair). Through it all, Driving with Plato offers an excellent framework for sizing up what’s vital.’ BookPage

‘Smith writes with a conversational bent, moving quickly through his arguments and making deft leaps from the mundane to the abstract. His explanations of difficult concepts are clear without being condescending...Amusing and occasionally insightful.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘If you can imagine a great philosophy course (yes, it is possible) presented by a gifted communicator who anticipates all your thoughts and provides answers that reflect the perspectives of a wide range of great thinkers, grounded in contemporary culture and with a keen sense of humour, you've got some idea of this thoughtful little book.’ Winnipeg Free Press