The Happy Minimalist

by Peter Lawrence

Book Overview

The life of a minimalist does not have to be deprived. It is simple living focused on what is truly needed to make you happy. It can be filled with enriching experiences, as demonstrated by Peter's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1436348625
• ISBN13: 9781436348621
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: Xlibris
• Length: 108 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Both interesting and informative.

In keeping with the author's lifestyle, this little book is presented in a minimalistic, easy reading format. It provides outstanding justification for how the author lives and he shares with us why it works so well for him. While I find some of the ideas a bit austere, the suggestions are excellent and will give the reader much to pick and choose from. Most, if not all, the suggestions can be adopted as is or modified to suit the reader's life. One example of what works for the author but not for all of us is that he seldom turns on his heat. For those of us in the Midwest, winter heat is not an option. It is a necessity. Appendix G, the author's Ethical Will, is an excellent summary of his philosophy. Good food for thought. Recommended.

A book that is both timely and timeless

Although personally, I don't live like the author, I subscribe to many of his principles espoused in the book. I am happily retired because I adhered to these principles. The book helps validate them. I highly recommend this book to the masses for its enlightening potential. It may be the best Xmas gift you can consider giving your spouse, children or friends.

The Happy Minimalist

The book is a quick read but lingers long afterward in the caverns of your mind. Why? Because too many of us feel like that proverbial hamster. Our wheel is spinning ever faster but we are going nowhere. Fast! How to remedy that situation is not easy. Peter comes up with a variety of ways of thinking about energy, consumption, lifestyle, diet, the whole mish-mash of the thing we call life. He makes you question the notion of a 'good life'. I found the book provocative and engaging. Some of it was humorous. Kudos for weaving Seinfeld into the story! Bottom line: the book is not a panacea. Don't think that was ever its intention. Or pretension. It merely makes one think. And for that I'm grateful to have read it. (full disclosure: I too have met the author)

Doyou really need that HDTV ?

This is a very timely and thought-provoking book. I read it as a cogently argued philosophy rather than a how-to-manual, although both themes reverberate in different part of this book. At a time when oil and food prices are soaring, medical costs are unthinkably forbidding, and the environment of our beloved Earth in severe stress,nothing could be more refreshing than a carefully laid out thesis for minimalist living and consumption. Lawrence argues convincingly that happiness and the pleasures of life can still be savored while reducing consumption to the barest minimum. Yes it does take a re-orientation of our values and some personal discipline. And no, the economy does not need to come crashing down if everyone adopts a minimalistic lifestyle. This is a must read for singles, young people, married couples and families alike - for everyone who cares about where we are headed.

the happy min

A thought provoking book that not only asks the question "When is enough, enough?", but poses an answer that is much less than you thought (and with a smile!). Lawrence explores the monetary costs of our lifestyles and the impact on an environment increasingly under stress from an increasing population wanting more. He provides a detailed account of the various decisions he made, weighing the costs and benefits of every lifestyle choice that we all make: furniture, consumer goods, daily expenditures and so forth. But do we really appreciate the true cost of these items? In a provocative and thought provoking manner, Lawrence seeks to address these questions with his own choices: by having so little he has lots.