breakfast praise

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