In Search of the Simple Life

Since colonial days Americans have greatly admired, variously defined, and occasionally practiced the simple life. In doing so they have provided a significant shaping force in the history of American values. Though quickly displaced by the cult of more and more, the simple life has remained an elevated ideal for a resolute few. For some it has meant a life of pious austerity; for others it has entailed conscientious consumption and aesthetic creation; for a few it has resulted in withdrawal from the larger society. Yet whatever form of simplicity has been adopted, those promoting the ideal have been animated by the same common purpose: to subordinate material desires to 'higher' activities. This richly illustrated anthology presents a fascinating and compelling array of original writings, woven together with Shi's illuminating commentary. -- publisher