The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life

The Circle of Simplicity speaks to readers seeking to find greater peace and happiness by eliminating some of the clutter and distraction in their lives. Andrews offers detailed instructions on how to form and run a simplicity circle, a support group for the terminally harried. Her book emphasizes the value of slowing down as a way to find time to reconnect with a community. But Andrews's idea of simplicity is vague, the remedy for a wide variety of discontents. For her it means, for one thing, eating out often, because cooking makes her "crabby." Instead of embracing the frugality advocated in other books, The Circle of Simplicity mostly echoes the weightless profundities of what used to be called the human potential movement. Andrews does not actually urge us to do our own thing, but she comes close.