An Interview with Peter Hobbes
Peter Hobbes is a self-proclaimed expert in rage management, vehicular ethics, and passive-aggressive coping mechanisms. This is his first book. It is not intended to help.
Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
The title came first. In fact, the entire book exists because of the title.
If you’ve ever been trapped behind someone camping in the left lane while matching the speed of the car beside them, you already know the phrase. It isn’t something you think. It’s something that escapes your soul.
The hard part wasn’t coming up with the title. The hard part was convincing myself there were enough ways to say “Get the F*ck Over” to fill an entire book.
Fortunately, there were.
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
The podcast If Books Could Kill deserves a lot of the blame.
I was listening to an episode making fun of The Let Them Theory while driving between Baton Rouge and Houston. At some point, I got trapped behind yet another left-lane driver and realized those two things belonged together.
I laughed out loud in my head about the thought of applying that same “wisdom” to each left-lane driver type and the book started writing itself.
What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?
By day, I build technology companies. Before writing this book, I spent years in cybersecurity, helping automate work that experts traditionally did by hand.
Now I spend my time assigning completely fabricated psychological diagnoses to people who refuse to leave the passing lane.
Apparently, I just enjoy solving difficult problems.
What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?
Reading the reviews. Of course, it’s rewarding when people say they laughed out loud. But what has meant the most is seeing readers understand that the book isn’t just a traffic rant. One reviewer called the idea of combining Atomic Habits, The Let Them Theory, and road rage “a stroke of comedic genius.” That was the joke from the very beginning. Seeing readers get it and laugh because they got it has been the most rewarding part of the entire experience.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?
I hope readers laugh out loud first. Then I hope they realize the book isn’t really about traffic.
It isn’t just ranting. It’s about trying to remain a decent person while navigating all those tiny moments where control, entitlement, and obliviousness collide with everyday life. The interstate just happens to be where they all merge.
The perfect reader is someone who knows they’re not perfect … but is still absolutely certain that guy in the left lane is worse.
What creative projects are you currently working on?
At the moment, I’m having far too much fun making comedy videos featuring fake psychologists, support groups for left-lane drivers, and toddlers discussing the psychological roots of highway behavior with complete sincerity (aka, book marketing). As for another book … I’ve learned never to underestimate humanity’s ability to turn ordinary situations into unnecessary chaos. Have you been to the airport recently?
Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.
Atmosphere Press is a selective hybrid publisher founded in 2015 on the principles of Honesty, Transparency, Professionalism, Kindness, and Making Your Book Awesome. Our books have won dozens of awards and sold tens of thousands of copies. If you’re interested in learning more, or seeking publication for your own work, please explore the links below.