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

Originally published in 1992, long before "simple living" became a hot marketing trend, this groundbreaking work eloquently makes the case for a simpler, less stressful life. Told by Frank Levering and Wanda Urbanska, a literary couple who met as students at Harvard and moved from the fast lane in Los Angeles to take over a family orchard in southwestern Virginia, Simple Living is the story of their decision to put more meaning into their lives while eliminating unnecessary debt and superfluous consumption, as well as lessening their environmental footprint.

Levering and Urbanska have written what many have hailed as a classic in the field: a personal yet grittily realistic memoir about their quest for more meaningful values in a consumer-driven society. Theirs is an honest account of what it means to live not outside the system but within it while at the same time claiming one's own values. While simple living has many definitions, Levering and Urbanska identify its focus as environmental stewardship, thoughtful consumption, community activism, and financial responsibility. Drawing on case studies of others throughout the country who are choosing to simplify, Simple Living suggests ways that you can simplify your life, not by any 10-step plan but by taking measures that make sense for you.

As relevant today as when it was first published, Simple Living is reprinted here with a new preface by the authors and a foreword by Millard and Linda Fuller, founders of Habitat for Humanity International.