Each human being's life is itself of great value and meaning.
And so, life should be lived just as life itself, not as a means for other doctrines or propaganda. No one is expendable.
The author also gives a sharp insight into monetary economy in which we live in. Day after day we are getting subject to the Lord of Money, and money becomes our Lord.
So parodoxically, the more money one make, the more subject to money we get.That's absurd.
This book shares much in common with 'To have or To Be' by Erich Fromm.
The author is a real humanist, who wanted every living being live the life as it deserves. Not being deceived by the illusions that we meet in our daily lives.
I really want to recommend this book to all those who looks upon all living beings as a united One, each not a separate pieces of life against life.

Many people try to live keeping their conviction. However it is difficult to keep it and it is even not easy to have a right conviction. Scott Nearing was the sociologist who practiced the right things that he believed and lived all his life as a naturalist. He lived for true convictions. After reading this book, I reflected my past. At least I think, it could be fortunate to have a opportunity to think of our spiritual slackening in the midst of material prosperity. I recommend this autobiography.

What does one say about a book that details the life and thoughts of a man who was one of the last of a breed of lions? That this is a wonderful biography, full of fresh impressions of a man who typified what the word "character" means. These days we have plenty of celebrities who are characters, but Scott Nearing had character. Scott Nearing was that rare and precious kind of man who actually stood by what he believed in, making his actions consistent with his beliefs, and doing so paid a terrible price for shouting against the insanity of the 20th century. Were we ever to look for good models to socialize our young with, Scott Nearing would be at the head of the line, standing shoulder to shoulder with other better known men like Gandhi, as wonderful models of what meaningful adulthood can look like.

I first learned about Scott and Helen Nearing in the late 1960s from a friend who was interested in learning more about the back-to-the-land movement of subsistence farming. Like many of the other baby boomers infatuated with anything different and unusual, I quickly steeped myself in the lore of the Nearings. What I found has long since fascinated and amazed me. Scott Nearing was an idealistic and outspoken reformer teaching at the University of Pennsylvania before the First World War who was suddenly removed from his position because of his strong and public opposition to the shames of child labor. His long and tortured personal odyssey from the moment of that removal seemed destined to cast him further and further from the center of the political firestorm raging in this country and closer and closer to nature and an alternative lifestyle. Finally by the early 1930s, in the midst of the Depression, he and his young wife Helen arrived in rural Vermont to buy a ramshackle old farm and attempt to live a more deliberative, purposeful, and balanced lifestyle that was consistent with their philosophy and social politics.

This is a well-written, accessible and eminently readable book by an academic who has done all of his homework. From interviews not only with Nearing late in his life, but also with many other contacts with everyone from his wife Helen to his sons from his first marriage to a staggering list of luminaries who knew Nearing and his work, Mr. Saltmarsh weaves a substantial and comforting country quilt of a portrait of a man who lived a life of principle with integrity, good humor, and compassion. Scott Nearing stands as a modern American icon from whom we can all learn a better and more satisfying way to approach our own lives and our won personal responsibilities to the wider community surrounding us. This is an absorbing and worthwhile boo, and one many of your friends would come to treasure after being introduced to this Spencer Tracy look-alike who so influenced a whole generation of younger Americans now living the 'good life'. Enjoy.

Reminds me of Scott's widows book which should be read first.It covers their life,even how he chose to die...a form of self-immolation.Saltmarsh has given some new front matter to his title,first published almost 10 years ago...with a quote from Alan Ginsberg..l line accurate portrayal of S.N.,I visited Forest farm after Woodstock.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. If you can find a copy, get a hold of this book to learn about how these counter culturists lived their lives in health and peace. Some folks may believe that the Nearing's style is bolder than they are used to, and this is because these people did not sit in ivy towers writing theories, they lived their lives based on their principles, which is admirable in my eyes.

I received this book as a gift from my friend, and I almost burst into tears. I have forgotten to buy it for a while!

It is very hard to meet the person who makes righteous theories and practice them himself. We have had to see people who have wonderful theories and can't put theirs into their life. Here he is! The first, he made it. The second, whenever he got in touble, he managed to have it out with his own conscience, outstanding view over the world, and cool self-control, and wisdom. The third, he was pure mind and soul for his goal. So he could walk forward to his own world and have room for looking around his neighbors. The last, he conquered a mount of ambition, honor, and wealth..overflowing in his life. I know it is the most difficult to do on earth. I am very happy to meet one of sincere and true teachers. The book made me look back on my past and think over preparing my future. How can I find the words for him and his wife!

I'm a student of Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. My major is pol.science. Somehow this book became the textbook of one of my courses, which is 'Politics appeared in Literature'. This book was quite nice and we had discussion after having read this. I guess most of students got impressed by Helan & Scott's whole life.

In today's youth-obsessed contemporary culture, it is a rare treat to be able to find a book so full of loving wisdom written by someone so involved socially, politically, and spiritually in the events of the 20th century. Therefore, I was enthralled in reading Helen Nearing's moving, absorbing and often quite disarming recollections and reflections on her life, both as an individual and as the lifetime partner of one of the most celebrated critics, iconoclasts and individualists of our time, economist, philosopher and social critic Scott Nearing.

The two lived lives singularly devoid of apologies, half-efforts, or excuses, living it largely on their own terms, based on their own labors and ingenuity. Early in the 1930s they struck out from New York City to escape the Depression and social convention by starting a revolutionary experiment in rural Vermont. In many respects the experiment succeeded, yet they were never able to transform it from a personal adventure to one more largely social and community-based in the Vermont setting. With the coming of ski resorts and encroaching exurbia in the early 1950s, the Nearings moved once again to rural Penobscot Bay in Maine to start again.

Of course, in due time they were suddenly "discovered" by the baby boomers and the counterculture in the late 1960s, and became the elder statesmen of the 'back-to-the-land' movement of the late sixties and early seventies. In all this, Scott and Helen continued in their commitment to a socially aware, civically responsible, and environmentally sustainable way of living. By the time Scott died at age 100 in the early 1980s, thousands of curious counterculture hopefuls made the pilgrimage to visit with the Nearings at their celebrated farm in rural coastal Maine.

This is a lovely, thoughtful, and wise book, full of the almost endless love and care and compassion Helen Nearing brought to all of her endeavors for her many decades of purposeful and socially responsible living. This book is no small treasure; it looms large and lovely for those who are aware of the incredible journey the Nearings made as fellow citizens, and also of the loving and special relationship these two rugged individualists shared. I have read it several times, and love having it on my bookshelf. I suspect you will too.

I discovered Helen and Scott's books in the early 1970s and they inspired and sustained me as I planned my escape from urban California. Not long before she died, Helen reviewed my book and gave it a wonderful testimonial which I will always cherish. No other two people have had a greater influence on the back-to-the-land movement. Helen and Scott were born to privilege and rejected it to live lives that showed by example their commitment to right living. They were vegetarians, they raised most of their food, and they were remarkable in their physical and intellectual capacities. Their physical bodies are dead but their spirits live on in the lives of those now living the good life because of their example. After Scott died at the age of 100 by purposefully not eating, Helen wrote this candid book that gives insight into their private lives and reveals their deep convictions.

'The Good Life' consists of two previously published books: 'Living the Good Life' and 'Continuing the Good Life'. Both books have completely different flavors. 'Living the Good Life' (1954) was written in the Nearings' still youthful and rebellious years, while 'Continuing the Good Life' (1979) shows the Nearings in a mellowed, tolerant old age.

Living the Good Life has some very useful information on gardening, food storage, and stone construction. The book is a mix of practical advice and the Nearings' philosophy of living, which includes self-reliance, vegetarianism, and socialism or communism. The authors do a good job of outlining their "design for living". A plethora of quotes tends to disrupt the writing.

The Nearings move from New York City to the Vermont hills, but say little of how they learned "the good life". Much of the book was written as though the authors knew better than the Vermont natives from the start. Surely, there were some humbling moments and follies that they experienced, but none are related. A little self-deprecation would have made the Nearings more likeable.

The authors had attempted to establish a commune or socialistic village in Vermont. However, the independent country folk refused to buy into their collective experiments. With only a handful of members, the Nearings made little economic or social progress. With intense scorn regarding the independence of rural America, the Nearings admit failure of their experiment and move off to Maine.

'Continuing the Good Life' abandons the philosophical ranting found in the first book and focuses on practical advice for modern homesteaders. The Nearings even relax some of their own vegetarian beliefs, as evidenced by eating dairy products and occasional eggs. By abandoning much of their preaching, they become more likeable. Although some of their endeavors are amusing, such as building a 1.5 acre pond with pick, shovel, wheelbarrow, and some concrete, we respect them for adhering to their beliefs and having so much energy at such an advanced age.

Some books speak to us where we are, others inspire us with what we may become. Not everyone will respond to the Nearings' vision of the good life, and some of you who do have dreams of living beyond the sidewalk may not find their account entirely useful--but it's still a consolation to know such a life can be lived. Society could not solve all of its ills if everyone tried to live like the Nearings, but who could doubt whether making their aims ours isn't a step in the right direction: reducing wants, cooperating with Nature, neither exploiting nor being exploited. _Good_Life_ is often called the _Walden_ of the 20th century, a comparison both helpful and misleading; it's more like an expansion of Thoreau's first chapter. And remember, the Nearings followed this course of life to the end of their days.

The Nearings include a great deal of practical advice, all of which is fascinating to read but not all of which may be useful to prospective homesteaders--even those in New England, where Scott and Helen made their home (twice). The best anyone in a different region can do is to use the Nearings' account as a model. Absorb the spirit of their activities, if you cannot follow them in substance. Live locally, in tune with the seasons, and meet your needs with your immediate resources. And count on working hard, your own labor being free and in virtually endless supply. One important lesson to be learned from the Nearings (also the advice of many homesteaders) is that you cannot expect to live entirely off the land. Some income is necessary, some inputs may have to come from the larger economic sphere. The Nearings sold maple syrup; other homesteaders retain some sort of workworld employment.

If you like this book, you might also wish to read Scott Nearing's autobiography, "The Making of a Radical." Scott was a university professor in economics nearly a century ago who lost his position when he spoke out against child labor. Finally, let me note that I am not a homesteader, though books like _The_Good_Life_ have inspired me to find simpler and healthier solutions to many of life's challenges. May you too!

I first became aware of the Nearings (Helen and Scott) as a university student in the late 1960s, when they were considered the elder statesmen of the Sixties counterculture's back-to-the-land movement. As such, they prefigure by decades all the current flood of authors counseling a return to basic human values, lives of simplicity and a turning away from lifestyles of mindless consumption. The thread of truth running through their decades of rural adventures and struggles to live their lives with quality, public service, and dignity is an American classic, and one the present generation could learn much from. Simply put, this is a classic volume that describes the Nearings' lifetime experiment at establishing and maintaining a more meaningful alternative lifestyle, one eschewing the waste, rampant materialism, and corporate subjugation so common in today's mainstream society. After reading this book, one will chuckle quietly at the pathos inherant in the sight of all these busy, self-important yuppies driving proudly down the highway in their hard-won BMWs, doing their deals and talking on their cellular phones while driving in traffic, going nowhere fast with such innane but self-absorbed intensity. There is a much more meaningful and satisfying way to approach one's life, and it is described in detail in this book. Buy it and be prepared to be educated and amazed. It has profoundly changed my own life and the way I approach the future, and I recommend it to anyone who has even a mild degree of discomfort with the rampant greed and materialism characterizing contemporary American society. Cheers!