Product Description

We're hammered, we're slammed, we're out of control. Happiness is on the decline in the most affluent country in the world, and Americans are troubled by the destructiveness of a lifestyle devoted to money and status. Yet no one seems to have a clue how to exit from the fast lane.

Slow is Beautiful analyzes the subtle consumer and political and corporate forces stamping the joy from our existence and provides a vision of a more fulfilling life through the rediscovery of caring community, unhurried leisure, and life-affirming joie de vivre. The book discusses:

The frantic time poverty plaguing everyone-a poverty that is being challenged by the growing slow life movement whose message is reverberating around the world
The need to build a culture of connection with both people and the planet by challenging the consumer society and re-creating vibrant life in our local communities
The creation of a different experience of time where we live life in slower, more reflective ways, savoring our lives and recapturing exuberance and laughter

Offering inspiration and concrete ideas, Slow is Beautiful will appeal to a broad audience of baby boomers nearing retirement, harried professionals with a social conscience, the one-time "middle class," and twenty- to thirty-somethings who are now facing the sobering realities of constricted choices.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #288764 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Cecile Andrews is a community educator, author of Circle of Simplicity and contributor to several books on living more simply and taking back our time. She and her husband are founders of Seattle's Phinney Ecovillage, a neighborhood-based sustainable community.

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended
Dispite many negative references to the "evil right wing" this book is a must read to understand where we can go as a society if we just slow down and really see what is happening to us and our world.

Good information, but I don't like the author's tone
This book present good information on a important issue. Unfortunately, the author's tone makes the book hard to read. For example, she makes disparaging remarks about "right-wingers." I enjoyed reading the first five chapters and highlighted a few lines here and there and wrote comments in the margins. I found less pleasure and enlightenment as I read the rest of the book. The bibliography lists several books that I would like to read.

Slow is Beautiful: New Visions of Community, Leisure and Joie de Vivre
I picked up this book because it sounded like something that EVERYONE should read. We definitely need to slow down, become involved in our communities and bring more happiness back into our lives. What I was subjected to in this book, however, was the author's political rants about how Conservatives have ruined this country! I'm an independent and I actually felt sorry for any conservative who might be reading this book - it was harsh. We are ALL a part of the problem, which makes us ALL a part of the solution. She does have some great quotes and some ideas that sound good no matter what your political party may be - hence the two stars. The joy is hidden in the vitriol in this book.