Frank Levering

This is a delightful account of a married couple's adjustment from the fast paced Hollywood life to managing their parents' apple orchard. They discuss their fears, the doubts of their sophisticated friends, and the gradual changes inside themselves - to the point where the orchard finally became their home. They also include life stories of friends of theirs who chose to live simply in different ways, for different reasons.
I found them very relatable. They did not get 'preachy' about their simplifying process; in fact, they seemed as reluctant as the average person might be in the beginning.
I have one tiny complaint - they wrote this book together and used 'we' all the time. I think it would have been more effective if they had alternated chapters so we could have heard each of their individual voices. One paragraph would say "Frank did this..." and I would picture Wanda talking, while the very next paragraph said "Wanda was having trouble with this...". I found that to be a little confusing. But in spite of that complaint, I found the book a pleasure to read.… (lisätietoja)

A beautifully written memoir of “one couple’s search for a better life”, in which the authors give up the rat race of 1980’s Hollywood to move to the husband’s childhood home and orchard in Appalachian, North Carolina to help his family. This book was written from the heart, which was almost always a good thing; save for the occasional tangent telling something that you could see was very important to the teller but didn’t add much to the story. I believe that I, and other readers, can take several practical suggestions and ideologies from this book and make them my own to bring greater sense of self-worth rather than net-worth to my own life. I loved the “research” that went into this book in interviewing others who had made the leap and add credence that it really can be done and for the better. I also enjoyed the background of the Quaker religion for which the husband’s father was involved, having not known much about that sect previously.… (lisätietoja)