November 8, 2010
Readers looking for a how-to guide to spring-cleaning won't find it here. Yet this book may give them reason to declutter their lives. With a "harebrained idea to downsize," the DiMarcos, authors behind the media and book company Hungry Planet, moved into a motor home where they lived on the road for three months. Combining this nomadic experience with scripture-based advice, the couple asks 30-somethings, accustomed to multitasking and owning the latest technology, to rid themselves of anything that gets in the way of a relationship with God (e.g., dieting, busyness, material purchases). The couple's ability to make do with less is questionable: the book itself is packed with sidebars for reflection, journal entries, tweets and quotes; and often their idea of downsizing merely involves swapping expensive items for cheaper versions (they replace their cars with older models). The book might have more impact if the couple had eliminated their transportation or, say, lived on $50 a week. Still, readers will appreciate their honesty and will be reminded to refocus their lives.
January 1, 2011
The DiMarcos are the publishers at Hungry Planet Media, and their latest book, like Mark Powley's Consumer Detox (see review, below), addresses the excess material goods that characterize our lives. The DiMarcos' definition of "stuff" expands to all the physical and spiritual obstacles that impede a better relationship with God; they diagnose "stuff" as the root of much of our discontent. VERDICT With its bolded messages and callouts, the DiMarcos' book is a user-friendly and salutary guide to healing from the wounds that our economic system inflicts. It should appeal to Christian and non-Christian readers alike.
Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 15, 2010
Many people today are drowning in stuff. Written from a Christian perspective, Unstuff, by a husband-and-wife team, is a mostly pain-free guide to downsizing. The authors offer many tips, providing advice on how to live on less and still be happy. But first they address the issues of why we feel compelled to fill our lives with so much stuff. They discuss the symptoms, and they ask questions, plenty of questions. What can you live without? What do you fear being without? What do you have simply because it makes you feel happy and content? They offer legitimate reasons why we should learn to live with less, ranging from finding more time to do other things to regaining self-control: too much of a good thing can be too much. In addition, the authors discuss many aspects and side effects of consumerism gone wild: shopping as therapy, debt, stress, instant gratification, obesity, insomnia. Accompanied by plenty of charts and lists, the book concludes with some timely and prudent advice: live within your means.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)