Simple Living: One Couple's Search for a Better Life (Paperback)

by Frank Levering (Author), Wanda Urbanska (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The authors tell the interesting and inspiring story of how they made the adjustment from living a treadmill existence in Los Angeles to running a family orchard in rural Virginia.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Many people in the United States and throughout the world practice "simple living" because of monetary restraints, but they would quickly complicate their living styles if they could afford to. Levering and Urbanska (husband and wife) willingly chose to simplify their lifestyle when they returned to Virginia to help manage an orchard, leaving behind successful writing careers in Hollywood. Seeking to reinforce their decision, they interviewed people throughout the United States who have made similar choices. They discuss the problems faced when making a major change in lifestyle and share insights into their philosophy of conscientiously working for a better world. Libraries will find an audience for this title in the small but growing minority of people advocating a simpler way of living.
- Marguerite Mroz, Baltimore Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: John F. Blair Publisher; 1st edition (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895872897
• ISBN-13: 978-0895872890
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #228,786 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Simple living for yuppies., June 20, 2005

By	storypage - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simple Living: One Couple's Search for a Better Life (Hardcover)

If you want to read the experiences of a couple of yuppies "simplifying" their lives, I suppose this is the book for you. I guess there is a place for that. However, they apparently had so far to go that simplifying for them is anything but for some of the rest of us.

I found the writing style very irritating. Referring to themselves sometimes in the first person, other times second, over to third, then back to first, it really got on my last nerve.

Some of the stories were interesting, but only as stories, not as inspiration or information on simplifying. The best parts of the book were when they were talking about the simple living solutions of other people, almost all of whom had more interesting stories than the authors'.

The snide shot they took at the Nearings was completely uncalled for and unnecessary, as was the equally mean comments about the couple who were former nuns, although not for the reason you may think but because they had simplified too much, in the eyses of the authors. I think this is revealing, and underscores my impression that they only think people should simplify so far.

And the fact that they see Sam Levering as being only of modest income even during the heyday of his orchard indicates they really have no clue about economic reality for most Americans.

Lastly, to have a chapter on frgual living only to turn around in the next chapter and describe a completely unnecessary upgrade of a kitchen was the last straw. Do they even know what frugal IS???

I second some of the other recommendations for alternative books. Read the Nearings THE GOOD LIFE, which combines their two classics on back to earth living, and YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE, by Dominguez and Robbin. You also might go to the Simple Living website, based on the latter book, and get some good info. It's at simpliving.net.

This one? As I said, if you are a yuppie or are otherwise wealthy and don't want to stray too far into the land of simplicity, you might actually find some use for this book.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars i'm afraid i didn't like the writing either, September 21, 2004

By	mindluge "mental inhabitant" - See all my reviews

maybe couples shouldn't write books together. i don't know if they were complimenting themselves, or more likely each other, but it got very tiresome. we all have to build up a certain degree of belief in ourselves, but it is not fun to read other people doing this. i thought the Goldstone's books (a couple who write about book-collecting) suffered from this, but this book really got on my nerves. i like the life they describe in the book, i just don't like all the ego that came with the description, it greatly distracted from the information. they also go on about how great their friends are, but they manage to make this annoying as well. i recommend your money or your life by dominguez & robin, or living the good life: how to live sanely & simply by the nearings instead of this book.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Better Life, October 9, 2001

By	satchel loftis (asheville, nc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simple Living: One Couple's Search for a Better Life (Paperback)

i don't know if i'm more thankful to wanda and frank for writing this book or to my friend kurt for passing it along to me. either way, it helped change my life.

the book tells the story of how wanda and frank transformed their LA lives. mixed in with their narrative are vignettes of other peoples' searches for simplicity in their lives. maybe the word "simplicity" has become overused and its definition washed out. for me, the book showed how different folks found peace of mind on a daily basis. how they realigned their goals and actions with their values. how they stopped competing and started living.

after i read it, i took a trip to Levering Orchard with my friend kurt. we wanted to meet the authors, to let them know that their book had touched us. so we took some time off from work, drove to virginia and found the orchard. when we arrived, frank was working at the pack house. we bought some apples and told him why we were there.

frank called wanda, who was up at the house, and told her that some "fans" had arrived at the pack house and wanted to meet her. and over time, kurt and i became friends with frank and wanda. we visited them on several occasions and kurt even helped them pick apples during the last week of the season that year.

i saw how they lived ten years after the move from california. i understood what they were writing about in Simple Living, and i began changing my own life. i wouldn't say that life has become "simple", but it sure is more peaceful than it used to be. my daily actions reflect my personal values and i have learned to live well with less stuff. i even moved from california to north carolina, in the blue ridge mountains, not too far from Levering Orchard.

so thanks, wanda and frank, for writing this book. and thanks, kurt, for letting me know about it.