The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture [Paperback]

David E. Shi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 20, 1986 | ISBN-10: 0195040139 | ISBN-13: 978-0195040135

From Thomas Jefferson to Lewis Mumford, from Henry David Thoreau to the hippies of the 1960s, advocates of the simple life have formed a diverse tradition in America's cultural history. Here, for the first time, David Shi presents an intriguing and comprehensive study of the many different ways in which Americans have pursued the elusive ideal of plain living and high thinking.
Beginning with the colonial period and the Puritan and Quaker ethic of hard work, temperate living and spiritual devotion, Shi ends with a discussion of Jimmy Carter's and Ronald Reagan's contrasting views of what constitutes the good life. In between we encounter a compelling cast of characters, including Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Scott and Helen Nearing.
In treating the simple life both as a sentimental ideal and as a guide for individual conduct, Shi reveals the intellectual and cultural life of this country and illuminates the persistent desire of select individuals and groups to elevate American life above the material and the mundane.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is the first history of the idea of the simple life in America, and an excellent one it is. It traces the idea from the settling of Boston in 1630 right up to the Reagan Administration, and includes among others, the Quakers, the Transcendentalists, the Southern Agrarians, and the Hippies of the sixties. It is rarely that I have seen a survey so comprehensive, so thorough, so perceptive, and so thought-provoking."--The Thoreau Society Bulletin

"[Shi's book] is superior history....A good book on the good life."--American Quarterly

"Shi has written a magnificent book, weaving together disparate themes from American history into a wonderful new web of meaning without either oversimplification or shrillness."--Christianity Today

"An impressive, imaginative, and graceful cultural analysis."--Eugene M. Tobin, Hamilton College

"A fine book."--The Boston Globe

"A well-written book covering the sweep of American history...Step out of the rat race long enough to read it."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"The most comprehensive survey to date of 'high thinking and plain living' in American history. As such, it deserves attention from anyone who has ever shared its subjects' skepticism about the benefits of a culture of material abundance and conspicuous consumption."--Commonweal

"The subject is an important one, and its treatment by Shi is exemplary....Shi's study can serve as a handbook to guide us in facing the insistent and inevitable challenges of the future."--Sierra

"A balanced, sensitive and comprehensive account of a major theme in American cultural history."--The Nation

About the Author

David E. Shi, Associate Professor of History, Davidson College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 20, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195040139
• ISBN-13: 978-0195040135
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,333,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A candid, informative, scholarly examination, April 8, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture (Paperback)

The Simple Life: Plain Living And High Thinking In American Culture by David E. Shi (President and Professor of History, Furman University) is a candid, informative, scholarly examination throughout American social history of the drive to simplify one's life and find meaning by the means of deliberately giving up excess material vanity, as embodied in the writings and lifestyles of Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, Jimmy Carter, and others. Individual chapters discuss the simple life concept from the Puritan, Quaker, Republican, and other points of view, and the importance and value this way of thought, behavior, and culture retained even in today's increasingly fast-paced electronic world. A thoughtful book, filled with carefully assessed observations, The Simple Life is strongly recommended reading for anyone contemplating simplification of their personal lifestyles and circumstances as a means of improving the quality of their lives and themselves.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get this book first, if you're interested in simple living., June 23, 2001

By 

Richard (Richmond, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture (Paperback)

This is the best book I have ever read on simple living. The writer not only knows his history, but he can write. I especially liked the chapter on Emersonian views of simple living.

Richard J. Lorenz

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best, September 5, 2004

By 

Ash (abroad) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture (Hardcover)

On my bookself sits a number of volumes on voluntary simplicity. This one is simply one of the best. It is so good in fact that I am considering giving the other books away. In this history, the author chronicles three centuries of simplicty in America.