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Surrounded by Idiots
Surrounded by Idiots
May 15, 2025 9:48 AM

Author:Thomas Erikson

Surrounded by Idiots

Do you ever think you're the only one making any sense? Or tried to reason with your partner with disastrous results? Do long, rambling answers drive you crazy? Or does your colleague's abrasive manner get your back up?

You are not alone. After a disastrous meeting with a highly successful entrepreneur, who was genuinely convinced he was 'surrounded by idiots', communication expert and bestselling author, Thomas Erikson dedicated himself to understanding how people function and why we often struggle to connect with certain types of people.

Originally published in Swedish in 2014 as Omgiven Av Idioter, Erikson's Surrounded by Idiots is already an international phenomenon, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide, of which over 750,000 copies have been sold in Sweden alone. It offers a simple, yet ground-breaking method for assessing the personalities of people we communicate with - in and out of the office - based on four personality types (Red, Blue, Green and Yellow), and provides insights into how we can adjust the way(s) we speak and share information.

Erikson will help you understand yourself better, hone communication and social skills, handle conflict with confidence, improve dynamics with your boss and team, and get the best out of the people you deal with and manage. He also shares simple tricks on body language, improving written communication and advice on when to back away or when to push on, and when to speak up or indeed shut up. Packed with 'aha!' and 'oh no!' moments, Surrounded by Idiots will help you understand and influence those around you, even people you currently think are beyond all comprehension.

And with a bit of luck you can also be confident that the idiot out there isn't you!

Reviews

'Anyone who does not read this book is actually an idiot.'

—— Kvalitets Magasinet

'A useful guide to communicating with the uncommunicable . . . clearly, dynamically presented and easy to grasp.'

—— Publishers Weekly

'Readers will be delighted. Most everyone can benefit from this book, especially those in the workplace. In addition, parents, educators, and students will find these insights valuable.'

—— Booklist

Walking makes us healthier, happier and brainier ... [O'Mara] knows this not only through personal experience, but from cold, hard data

—— Observer

Full of insights… an accessible and thought-provoking discussion of walking as a key to human success

—— Gina Rippon, author of The Gendered Brain , Gina Rippon, author of The Gendered Brain

A book that will leave you itching to go out for a good old-fashioned stroll

—— Mail on Sunday

A fascinating new book that examines the multitudinous benefits of this form of locomotion

—— Harper's Bazaar

Like a poem to walking… [and] the science that might help convince planners to prioritise walking as a means of getting around

—— Lucy Whetman , UK Press Syndication

Forget apples. A walk a day really will keep the doctor away

—— Evening Standard

[In Praise of Walking] it provides an antidote to the many miseries that can accumulate because of our modern, sedentary lifestyle

—— Simple Things

Whether you’re an avid hiker or simply like to get out and do the school run on foot, this book will make you appreciate the physical, mental and societal benefits of getting outdoors on two feet.

—— Liz Connor , UK Press Syndication

An informative yet witty book on the importance of walking for our health and wellbeing, and for societies in general

—— Liz Nice , Eastern Daily Press

Compelling… A new angle on our favourite pastime

—— Walk Magazine

A fascinating read… This informative book…will rouse you from the sofa and make you want to get moving

—— Eastern Daily Press, *Book of the Week*

Ebullient, playful and creative... By turns caustic, astute and very, very funny.

—— Tanya Sweeney , Irish Independent

This is the first time I've read anything about motherhood that didn't bore me... It's all really unconventional but laugh-out-loud funny.

—— Sara Pascoe , Observer

Frank and fearless... a glorious validation to all parents doing it solo.

—— Sarra Manning , Red

Hits that sweet spot between laugh-out-loud funny, with its accounts of first dates, LA wackiness and personal mishaps, and a lyrical lament for a life of paternity tests, an absent father and the absence of raves.

—— Eithne Farry , Sunday Express

Joyfully crude and hilarious... Heawood is refreshingly unapologetic.

—— Eleanor Halls , Daily Telegraph

Achingly tender and snort-inducingly funny.

—— Sarah Hughes , i, *Summer Reads 2020*

Thought-provoking and insightful.

—— Metro

Unflinchingly honest, emotionally raw, and surprisingly sweet.

—— SheerLuxe

Raw and funny, Heawood’s memoir celebrates the messiness of life and motherhood with boldness, panache, and unexpected moments of real poignancy. An uncensored and eccentric delight.

—— Booklist

Heawood writes with warmth and wit about life as a single mother.

—— Rachel Cooke , Observer, *Books to Look Out For in 2020*

Rejoice! One of our favourite journalists Sophie Heawood – known for her hilarity and honesty – publishes her first book this year. It's a memoir about being a single mother when you haven't quite worked out how to look after yourself.

—— Arielle Tchiprout , Red *The best books we can't wait to read in 2020*

[Heawood] shares her story with huge wit and sharp observation.

—— Hannah Stephenson , Irish Examiner, *12 of the best new reads for summer*

A tender and hilarious account of her life as a single mother.

—— Sophie Morris , i

This [is an] incredibly candid and often LOLs memoir about how it feels to raise a baby on your own when you're more into negronis than nappies.

—— Cosmopolitan

Reading Heawood's often outrageous and occasionally undignified anecdotes was the perfect tonic during the second national lockdown. Though hilariously funny, her story of accidental pregnancy is also tender and poignant, with her accounts of motherhood feeling far less common through a single-parent lens.

—— Independent

A tender and funny account of single parenthood

—— Guardian

Packed with humour and honesty, it's also tender, moving and relatable, detailing Heawood's own evolution and growth alongside her young daughter's, and the highs and lows of solo parenting.

—— Harpers Bazaar
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