A Reasonable Life: Toward a Simpler, Secure, More Humane Existence
In this scattershot jeremiad, Mate takes on virtually all of modernity, concluding with a romantic paean to country life. A one-time city dweller who now lives in Tuscany, the author criticizes houses ("huge, unused barns"), "the myth of the steady job," corporate ownership, agricultural practices, cities and individualism--all in a shrill and hyperbolic prose style. He does have some worthy recommendations: why we should convert our lawns to gardens; how children should be taught defenses against advertising. But other ideas, like junking the television set ("Open an upstairs window . . . and throw the heinous sonovabitch as far as your arms let you!"), make him sound like a cranky Luddite. "Most of you might dismiss this as the raving of some idealist," acknowledges the author; indeed, he courts that assessment.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.