In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed (Paperback)

~ Carl Honore (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The No Logo of its age…. Strangely enthralling, an epiphany for those of us who have forgotten how to look forward to things or enjoy the moment when it arrives.”
—The Herald (UK)

“Honoré is particularly good at detailing the addictive properties and vagaries of speed, and its ill effects on individuals and society, including himself.”
—The Globe and Mail

“It’s about time someone took issue with the underlying mentality that sets our daily metronome.... Those who savour this hopeful book one chapter at a time will be the biggest winners. It’s seductively crafted in this way ... measuring out its subversive but ultimately healing message.”
—Edmonton Journal

“Honoré offers compelling evidence that suggests controlling your own tempo of life is not only a healthier and happier alternative, but leads to a more rewarding and productive lifestyle.”
—Toronto Star

"Life is getting faster, no doubt about it. We rush everything: we eat fast food, have quickie sex, drive like maniacs, and compete hard for fast-paced jobs. We wish to slow down and slack off, but we're afraid we'll fail... A London-based journalist, Honoré shows us the benefits of slowness, with chapters on food, transportation, meditation and exercise, medicine, sex, work, and parenting…. This book presents ideas and resources that will be new to most readers and is recommended for both public and academic libraries."
—Library Journal Review

"A former 'speedaholic,' an award-winning Canadian journalist advocates living a slower, more measured existence, in virtually every area, a philosophy he defines as 'balance.' The author explores, in convincing and skillful prose, a quiet revolution known as 'the slow movement,' which is attempting to integrate the advances of the information age into a lifestyle that is marked by an 'inner slowness' that gives more depth to relationships with others and with oneself. For the overprogrammed and stressed, slow and steady may win the race."
—Publisher's Weekly

"Honoré‘s engaging report should be embraced by those with quality-of-life and environmental concerns."
—Booklist

"Try reading this book one chapter a day — it is worth allowing its subversive message to sink slowly in so it has a chance of changing your life."
—Bill McKibben, author of Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age and The End of Nature

"The speed of life borders on insanity for an increasing number of us, and the price we pay is the erosion of our happiness and health. If you sometimes feel engulfed by the mad pace of modern life — and who doesn't? — Carl Honoré's In Praise of Slow could prove life-saving."
—Larry Dossey, MD, Author:  Healing Beyond the Body and Reinventing Medicine

"In this terrific book, Carl Honoré gets to the heart of what's ailing western industrial societies — our obsession with productivity, speed and consumerism — but he doesn't stop with the gloom and doom. Instead, he shows the way out, with inspiring examples from the growing worldwide 'slow ' movement. Take the time to read this important, excellently written  book — our future depends on the ideas it contains!"
—John de Graaf, co-author, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic, and editor, Take Back Your Time

"It's about time someone insisted — in intelligent, persuasive language — that we all put on the brakes, or at least check the instruments on the dashboard. Through anecdote, statistic and argument, Honoré wants to convert us to an atheism that is opposed to this culture's mad theology of speed."
— Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate

"Entrepreneur and slow may seem like oxymorons. However, taking the time to read Carl Honoré's In Praise of Slow may be the best decision an entrepreneur, or anyone working full time, can make."
— Gary Erickson, Entrepreneur & CEO of Clif Bar Inc., and Author of Raising the Bar --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

These days our culture teaches that faster is better. But in the race to keep up, everything suffers - our work, diet and health, our relationships and sex lives. We are in such a hurry that anyone or anything that slows us down becomes the enemy. Carl Honore uncovers a movement that challenges the cult of speed by proving that slower is often better. The Slow movement is not about doing everything at a snail's pace; it is about living better in the hectic modern world by striking a balance between fast and slow. From a Tantric sex workshop in London and a SuperSlow exercise studio in New York to Italy, home of the Slow Food, Slow Cities and Slow Sex movement, Honore's entertaining investigation reveals how we can live more productive, fulfilling lives by embracing the philosophy of Slow.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) (January 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752864416
• ISBN-13: 978-0752864419
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #414,138 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My 100-word book review, March 19, 2007

By	A. J. Cull (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In praise of slow: how a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed (Paperback)

In Praise of Slow is a book to be savoured and enjoyed at your leisure. If you, like me, tend to do everything much too fast, you will find a welcome antidote within these pages. Before reading it, I had no idea what the Slow Movement was, or what it stood for, and was pleasantly surprised to find an alternative to the modern culture of instant everything. Carl Honoré's style is relaxed and chatty. As a convert from the cult of speed, he builds a good case for taking the right amount of time to do the things that matter.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Introduces consideration of the speed in which we do things to most aspects of life, June 8, 2006

By	Semioticghost "Semioticghost" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

Carl Honore's "In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed" does pretty much what it says on the tin, discussing how to introduce consideration of the speed in which we do things to most aspects of life. It's an enjoyable read, and while I don't feel I need most of its message -I'm fairly well up on taking things as slowly as they deserve- I got some new ideas. I've played with some of the suggestions, and it's certainly been interesting - my urge to multi-task, for example, which asserts itself constantly irrespective of how inadequate I may be at it, can be quelled enough for me to enjoy just doing one thing. This requires much concentration, but it's nice to find out that I -can- do it if necessary. One of my favourite quotes from the book is Einstein's not Honore's: "Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant."

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book club material, September 11, 2005

By	Colin from Calgary (Calgary AB) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Praise of Slow: How a Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed (Paperback)

We chose this book for our book club and it proved to be a great choice. It's very well written, researched and argued. The author sums up the dominant problem of the modern world, that there is too much speed in everything we do, and gives lots of cool examples from around the world of how "slow" is helping people live, work, whatever better. I recognized myself in some of the examples of pointless hurry and laughed out loud a few times. It's just an awesome read and everyone in this insane too-fast culture of ours should pick up a copy. All the members of our group enjoyed the book and we had our best debate in a long time. I already know what some of my faster friends are getting for Christmas.