The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing's Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living

I first read this book in the early 70s and found their stories of living off the earth and of building their house with the materials on their land quite inspiring. This book ignited in me a lifelong interest in the outdoors and a dream to live simply, however difficult that may be nowadays.

This is a great book. I first read it in the 70s and have reread it several times since. A lot of good lessons that we would do well to heed today.

These books have inspired me to start my own farm and live a life of simplicity and hard work. I share some of the strong principals that Scott and Helen Nearing had. I only wish I had their courage. Once you have read their books do some research on Scott and Helen then you will learn why they were the way they were. Scott was a real Pain in the *** to a lot of folks prior to the great depression. His ideas on child labor were way ahead of his time. Helen was his soul mate and partner and a darn good writer in her own right. They both lived long lives Scott 100, Helen 91 she was killed in an auto accident. With their strong beliefs and not always endearing manners they weren't always appreciated by their neighbors and friends. However, they were right about so many things and inspired so many people they became cult heros during the sixties and beyond. These books are about them as much as about their farm.

This book is a reprint of two classics "Living the good life" and "Continuing the good life". In these books, Scott and Helen Nearing describe how they chose to live deliberately, and built for themselves a sustainable life and lifestyle in Vermont and Maine. In "Living the good life", they explain some of the circumstances that led them to stage a strategic withdrawal from New York City and relocate to a run-down farm in Vermont during the 1930s. They describe how they acquired and developed their land, how they built their house, and their garden and diet. A major focus of the book is explaining their philosophy of non-exploitation, and how they wanted to implement their ideas of social justice into their lifestyle. The Nearings believed so strongly in avoiding exploitation of any kind that they avoided resorting to animal labor or products on their farm. They arranged their days so that they could spend 4 hours doing bread labor, 4 hours working with the community, and had 4 hours of free time each day to pursue independent interests. They also describe how they earned cash income from maple sugaring on their property. Towards the end of this first section, they explain that growing crowds of visitors, combined with a general lack of cooperation in the community eventually convinced them to abandon their project in Vermont and move on to Maine.In "Continuing the Good Life," the Nearings describe how they built a second homestead in Maine. Once again, they explain how they constructed a house from stone, and how they developed a case income, this time based on blueberries. Gardening and diet is also given more space in this volume than it had in "Living the Good Life". This book is rich with both inspiration and practical details. Scott Nearing was a well published academic in the field of economics before he started the adventures described in these volumes. As a result, his style of writing is rather academic, and his chapters contain quite a few footnotes. It's a little strange to read this book out of context, to dive right in without knowing anything about the Nearings beforehand. This is what I did the first time I read the book, and I found the premise of the adventure rather preposterous- -two city people going off to establish a commune in the mountains during the 1930s. They mentioned that they earned some money from traveling and writing. Without further explanation, I thought they were travel writers or something. It wasn't until I read John Saltmarsh's book The Making of a Homesteader that I began to get the full picture. In that book, Saltmarsh describes how Scott Nearing had been a very successful economics professor in the first decade of the century. However, he was a very outspoken pacifist, and lost his teaching positions because of his politics. He was living in New York City, separated from his wife, when he met Helen, his soul mate. Because of his political stances, Nearing was recruited by the Commun

Since I was a little girl I've dreamt of living on a farm. Growing my own food. Gaining my daily exercise while I do my chores. Today I'm in my early 30's and still have a strong desire to live a life similar to Helen & Scott Nearing. This book was such an inspiration to me! "The Good Life" has made me yearn even more for a healthier, and fruitful lifestyle. I'm thankful that Helen & Scott were such generous people and willing to share their experiences and knoweldge. I only wish that I had the opportunity to meet these beautiful souls and share a few days labor, meal and conversation with them.