Better Off - BoundCovers

electronic resource

English language

Published 2004 by HarperCollins.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-072981-3

(1 review)

E-Book Extras: ONE: An Interview and Insight into the Mind of Eric Brende; TWO: Ten Tips for a Leaner and More Leisurely Life in a World of TechnologyWhat happens when a graduate of MIT, the bastion of technological advancement, and his bride move to a community so primitive in its technology that even Amish groups consider it antiquated?Eric Brende conceives a real-life experiment: to see if, in fact, all our cell phones, wide-screen TVs, and SUVs have made life easier and better -- or whether life would be preferable without them. By turns, the query narrows down to a single question: What is the least we need to achieve the most? With this in mind, the Brendes ditch their car, electric stove, refrigerator, running water, and everything else motorized or "hooked to the grid" and begin an eighteen-month trial run -- one that dramatically changes the way they live, and …

E-Book Extras: ONE: An Interview and Insight into the Mind of Eric Brende; TWO: Ten Tips for a Leaner and More Leisurely Life in a World of TechnologyWhat happens when a graduate of MIT, the bastion of technological advancement, and his bride move to a community so primitive in its technology that even Amish groups consider it antiquated?Eric Brende conceives a real-life experiment: to see if, in fact, all our cell phones, wide-screen TVs, and SUVs have made life easier and better -- or whether life would be preferable without them. By turns, the query narrows down to a single question: What is the least we need to achieve the most? With this in mind, the Brendes ditch their car, electric stove, refrigerator, running water, and everything else motorized or "hooked to the grid" and begin an eighteen-month trial run -- one that dramatically changes the way they live, and proves entertaining and surprising to readers.Better OFF is a smart, often comedic, and always riveting book that also mingles scientific analysis with the human story, demonstrating how a world free of technological excess can shrink stress -- and waistlines -- and expand happiness, health, and leisure. Our notion that technophobes are backward gets turned on its head as the Brendes realize that the crucial technological decisions of their adopted Minimite community are made more soberly and deliberately than in the surrounding culture, and the result is greater -- not lesser -- mastery over the conditions of human existence.

7 editions

Will Sargent reviewed Better Off by Eric Brende

Review of 'Better Off' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

While it's an interesting book on the joys of simple living, I found that there were some things that were either not mentioned or very "off" in Brende's description. He mentions Catholic vs Anabaptist leanings, but talks about religion as a component of living off the grid -- while he has questions about the orthodoxy of the church and boring church sermons, he doesn't have a problem with the basic concept of religion as an integral part of life there. I do. Every time I was interested or found the idea seductive, an offhand reference of religion was enough to make me very glad I wasn't doing that.

The second thing that seemed off was his treatment of his wife. From the start, his description of his wife as an "assistant" is disturbing... and there's very little mention of her doing anything other than passively agreeing with him. Even when …

While it's an interesting book on the joys of simple living, I found that there were some things that were either not mentioned or very "off" in Brende's description. He mentions Catholic vs Anabaptist leanings, but talks about religion as a component of living off the grid -- while he has questions about the orthodoxy of the church and boring church sermons, he doesn't have a problem with the basic concept of religion as an integral part of life there. I do. Every time I was interested or found the idea seductive, an offhand reference of religion was enough to make me very glad I wasn't doing that.

The second thing that seemed off was his treatment of his wife. From the start, his description of his wife as an "assistant" is disturbing... and there's very little mention of her doing anything other than passively agreeing with him. Even when Brende is discussing how she felt herself being placed in the kitchen, it's very clearly his voice rather than hers.

Finally, Brende doesn't discuss to my satisfaction how he re-entered "normal" life and how he and his children live without a job or health insurance. I don't dispute that he lives the life he leads, or that it works for him. But his choices don't seem nearly as safe as he'd like to imply, even considering his background as an MIT educated worker, and his "off the grid cred" seems a bit silly considering that he has electricity, a phone and typed up his manuscript on a word processor.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good book. But it's one that is very clearly written by someone who knows where he stands, and stands so firmly on that line that he has trouble seeing the other side.