''Living the Good Life'' is a book by

Helen Helen may refer to: People * Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world * Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress * Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places * Helen, ...

and

Scott Nearing Scott Nearing (August 6, 1883 – August 24, 1983) was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, pacifist, vegetarian and advocate of simple living. Biography Early years Nearing was born in Morris Run, Tioga County, ...

about their self-sufficient homesteading project in Vermont. It was originally published privately in 1954 and was republished in 1970 with

Schocken Books Schocken Books is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that specializes in Jewish literary works. Originally established in 1931 by Salman Schocken as Schocken Verlag in Berlin, the company later moved to Palestine and then the Uni ...

and an introduction by

Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (1911–1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decen ...

Background

, an outspoken leftist and economist, began

homesteading Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of food, and may also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craft work for household use or sale. Pur ...

in Vermont with his wife,

, after he had been blacklisted by the academic community for his political beliefs.

Publication

After the Nearings published a book in 1950 about their use of

maple syrup Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...

as a seasonal cash crop,

Pearl S. Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, Buck ...

, the wife of their editor, encouraged the Nearings to write a book about their homesteading life. By the time they finished the manuscript several years later, the publisher was no longer interested. The Nearings created their own imprint, Social Science Institute, and self-published the book in 1954. Its original printing of 2,000 electrotyped copies sold poorly. During the 1960s,

back-to-the-land A back-to-the-land movement is any of various agrarian movements across different historical periods. The common thread is a call for people to take up smallholding and to grow food from the land with an emphasis on a greater degree of self-suffic ...

books entered higher demand, as advertised through the ''

Whole Earth Catalog The ''Whole Earth Catalog'' (WEC) was an American counterculture magazine and product catalog published by Stewart Brand several times a year between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998. The magazine featured essays and articl ...

''. The Nearings had moved to Maine but continued to homestead.

republished ''Living the Good Life'' from the original plates and with a foreword from

. The book sold 50,000 copies its first year, and became seminal in the late-20th-century American back-to-the-land movement, putting the Nearings in the national spotlight. The book would sell 170,000 copies and receive translation into five languages. The Nearings gave their royalties to their Social Science Institute. A 1979 documentary film by the same name showed the Nearings tending to their homestead and discussing their philosophy. A follow-up book, ''Continuing the Good Life'', was also published in 1979.

Legacy

In 1995, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that ''Living the Good Life'' remained "a modern day ''

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...

''" for those who tired of the city.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Agriculture, Books, 1960s 1954 non-fiction books English-language books Self-published books Paul Goodman Self-sustainability Schocken Books books

Background

Publication

Legacy

References

Further reading

External links