Comments

[Terry]

I commend you! I think it's great. More of us should do what you're doing. I am a minimalist at home, but then of course, I have all the amenities also. I did 8 years of it traveling, I could do it again.
Congratulations. I shall buy your book.

[Martin Fishback]

HI! We worked like hell and made our 2M, retired early in Colorado Rockies, now write and paint and hike in exotic places. We are just plain folks. We give a lot to others helpwise and financially if deserving.We just want to be happy and enjoy a peaceful life. Hope you do.

Martin and Carolyn Fishback

[Joe Rathbun]

Dear Mr. Brende:

Nice and informative website!

Despite the comment posted on August 27, 2004, this website is just fine. It does the job, doesn't it? All information is succinctly presented along with a handsome photo.

Just one suggestion: When you have the time, add a page of a small photo-preview of the parts of St.Louis the "rickshaw" goes. That would be a nice touch. It need not be big or extensive; ten photos would suffice.

I will be procuring your book soon!

Sincerely,

Joe Rathbun

[Joe Rathbun]

OOPS! I presented incorrect email address! I do not know what happened. Webmaster, HELP! How do I delete a post? Correct address is oej8nubthar@earthlink.net

[Elizabeth]

I just read your book (our local library had it). I get it. Thanks.

[Chris in TN]

Dear Mr.Brende
Thank you for your book
After reading it I wanted more
I went out and got a book
on the Amish and I fell in Love
with them and the other Anabaptist.
I have not quit reading and learning
my collection of books keep growing
this has taken me to the
Church of the Brethren and the
Old German Baptist Brethren they are
what I have been seeking my whole life
I had never heard of an AnaBaptist
and I have been a seeker in the
biggest way and as the
post above says "I Get it!"
I learned about your book on
Coast to Coast AM
Thank you again for
showing me the light
or rather the Oil lamp:)
I am forever in your Debt
-Chris

[Chris TN]

I too have incorrect E-Mail here is
Correct one CJL92@webtv.net -Chris in TN

[Chris TN]

I too have incorrect E-Mail here is
Correct one CJL92@webtv.net -Chris in TN

[Matt Doherty]

Thanks.
1234 Sherman Ave
Evanston Il 60202
[It's ironic that I cannot post this without (providing) an email address...]

[chris]

thanks, I need the correct email also.

[Michelle]

Greetings!!,

I'm not sure how much you check this, but I thought I'd write anyway.

About two years ago I got your book after hearing about it on Coast to Coast and reading about it on Newsweek, I became fascinated with the idea of living without any electricity and modern convinences. I have since told everyone I know about the book. I have even loaned it out to people. I recently got it back and have been re-reading it and am still intrigued by the idea.

It is true the simpler you live the simpler life is.

I hope you keep writing. I'd like to know how your life is now as you live without the hustle and bustle of the hyper modern life.

Thanks for a wonderful read.
Michelle

[Eric Stauss]

Hi Eric:
I was compelled to read your book, which I am half way through. For me, the issue goes beyond excessive technology. It's the unbridled compulsion in our country to consume too much of everything. Just walk through a mall and look at the thousands of crappy imported things you don't really need.

[toni]

Hi Eric,
I too have thoroughly enjoyed reading your book. It is very thought provoking and I do intend to read it again. I have suggested it to several others, and posted a reccomendation on my blog this past week as well (obviously, I haven't taken your experiment to heart just yet, but honestly, it has me considering).

Are you considering penning a follow-up book? I would love to hear more about the attempt to start the community that didn't work out, as well as your follow up thoughts on what you miss most about "Amish" life, if you've ever gone back to visit friends there, how you're raising your children to understand technology, what homelife is like for the long term, etc.

PLEASE consider writing again. I'll be first to buy.
BLessings,
~Toni Harlow~

[Matt]

Mr. Brende:

I just finished reading "Better Off". I absolutely LOVED it! I am trying to instill Minimite principles into my life (and I guess that I always have been, but never knew what to call it). I can't say enough how much your book has inspired me. Unfortunately, I am on a computer now (at work) and I'm not quite ready/willing/able to give up my job or truck, but I have decided to work toward my goal of minimization a bit slower than the way you and your wife jumped into it. If I can save my money and stay debt free, I will eventually be able to buy enough land to subsistence farm / give horse riding lessons / do other "no-longer-traditional jobs. Much like you, my wife and I live in an area where it is very hard to buy the land necessary to live the Minimite lifestyle (The Northeast), and we are not as willing to move *that* far away. However, I commend you on the lifestyle that you have been able to build, and I hope to get to that point eventually.

I don't know how often you read this, but I would like to suggest the book "The Overspent American: Why we want what we don't need" by Juliet B. Schor for your reading. This book is the facts, numbers, and figures that go behind your 'real-life' experiment. Also, the term Minimite that you use is very similar to what she defined as a "voluntary downshifter".

Again, thank you for the book, it has been an inspiration.

[Cordelia Brown]

Eric, I bought your book last week and I am loving it. I remember you from Music Camp, at KU, btw. I'm also a pianist, and a violinist. And now a harpist. Anyway.

Am enjoying your book very much. We live in Lawrence, KS in a house built in 1868 before they invented A/C and all that. We also have a self-sufficient, almost, house in Jeff. County about 15 miles north of Lawrence. No hot water at kitchen sink, no flush toilet (Biolet) and we have meat goats, dairy goats and chickens, and a water well with a windmill. Anyway. Your writing is very good and I've learned a lot from your book, which I'm recommending to people. I think about you and your family in St. Louis in the old neighborhood like ours in Lawrendce -- the homes built before electric and all.

Am about to start a "drivepoint" well at our farm in Jeff. County -- as soon as the equipment arrives. I had the hardest time finding a drivepoint, which is like a sharp-tipped, screened pipe one drives into the ground to get water, if the water's less than 50 feet below surface, preferably.

Cordelia Brown

[Jessica]

Just finished your book this afternoon after checking it out from the library. I don't think we would want to eliminate all technology from our lives--I like my CDs--but we don't have a TV, and are trying to learn how to become more self-reliant. Thanks for the inspiration -- reading your book was like having my thoughts kind of plucked out of my head!

[Francis Mark]

Hello Eric,

I am currently reading "Better Off" and have been enjoying it but when I reached page 96 I found two paragraphs in the center of the page that could use some correction and further mention. Judas Priest is not a punk rock band. They are a commercial heavy metal band and they have nothing to do with the true ethics of punk rock. It is unfortunate that these ethics I speak of have been almost completely lost among the youth of today who buy and sell their punk rock paraphernalia with their parents money at the local shopping mall. True punks reject capitalism and would only visit these types of stores to put a brick through the window in protest. To wear clothes that are intentionally ripped is not punk, it's posturing. I think that if you got back to the root of punk rock (before it was sanitized and packaged, before it became a trendy tool for kids to piss off their parents) you might find that some of the ethics are quite similar to your own. We reject the false ideals of modern American society, thrive by salvaging other peoples waste, we have a strong sense of community and we've created our own music scene. We survive without the help of major record labels by recording our own music and distributing it ourselves. We have small concerts in back yards and loft spaces to reduce our dependence on corporations like Ticketmaster and Live Nation who care nothing about creativity and expression. They only exploit music because they can squeeze money out of it, and that's what happened with punk rock. It began as a counter culture and now it's just another marketing tool.

The punk rock that I know and love is a very positive force but you will never hear about it because it is kept out of the public eye, and maybe that is for the better. The masses get the sterile version. What else is new?

Please do not view this as an attack. I only wish to share some information about a culture that is greatly misunderstood. I commend your writing and look forward to finishing your book.

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My top five is close to yours, just a little different order.

5. Breaking The La
4. Heading Out On To The Highway
3. Living After Midnight
2. You've Got Another Thing Coming
1. Turbo Lover