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More or Less: Essays from a Year of No Buying
WINNER OF THE EASTOVER PRESS PRIZE FOR NONFICTION The essays in More or Less explore the degree to which we are defined, and confined, by what we own.
In 2017, novelist Ann Patchett wrote in the NYT about planning "a year buying nothing" other than what she would consume-and Susannah Q. Pratt took the hint. In 2018, after some convincing (that included a family PowerPoint!) Pratt and her family decided to buy nothing, "We undertook a 365-day moratorium on the purchase of new clothes, toys, games, books, electronics, gear, furniture, housewares, and other things that fall in the general category of 'stuff.' For twelve months we purchased only essentials - food, toiletries, light bulbs, and a few pairs of shoes for my growing boys. We stayed out of stores and off of online shopping sites. We fixed things. We made things. We went without." The twenty-one essays in More or Less are much more than the story of that year. Pratt thoughtfully considers what might bring someone to step outside the usual American consumerism, coming to examine the ways in which what we buy and own can change who we are or want to be. Intertwining scenes of homelife with sustained reflection on notions of utility, disposability, and community, the book addresses the central question of how to live well in a culture of consumerism from which there is no meaningful exit.
In 2017, novelist Ann Patchett wrote in the NYT about planning "a year buying nothing" other than what she would consume-and Susannah Q. Pratt took the hint. In 2018, after some convincing (that included a family PowerPoint!) Pratt and her family decided to buy nothing, "We undertook a 365-day moratorium on the purchase of new clothes, toys, games, books, electronics, gear, furniture, housewares, and other things that fall in the general category of 'stuff.' For twelve months we purchased only essentials - food, toiletries, light bulbs, and a few pairs of shoes for my growing boys. We stayed out of stores and off of online shopping sites. We fixed things. We made things. We went without." The twenty-one essays in More or Less are much more than the story of that year. Pratt thoughtfully considers what might bring someone to step outside the usual American consumerism, coming to examine the ways in which what we buy and own can change who we are or want to be. Intertwining scenes of homelife with sustained reflection on notions of utility, disposability, and community, the book addresses the central question of how to live well in a culture of consumerism from which there is no meaningful exit.
164 pages, Paperback
Published February 7, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 3, 2023
Engaging, authentic, thought-provoking book!
More or Less offers thoughtful reflections on our relationship with “stuff.” As a mom of a big family who spent my winter break cleaning closets and sorting through piles of clothes and toys, Pratt’s experiment with a year of no buying is appealing. Her observations about the way our possessions limit and define us challenged me to rethink my own relationship with material possessions.
I liked how these essays extended beyond suggestions of practical advice. She left me thinking about my ethical responsibility to the environment and how my possessions reflect my values and can be used to connect or separate me from the lives of others in my community.
The short, accessible chapters were easy to read despite my busy schedule and I found myself thinking about her stories and the questions she raised as I went about my daily tasks. I felt like Pratt was inviting me into a conversation with others, and she was an engaging host!
I also shared a few of Pratt’s essays(”Parsing Desire,” “Mine to Choose,” and “Muddying Walden”) with students in my 11th-grade English classes to add a contemporary perspective to our discussion of Transcendentalism and Krakauer’s Into the Wild. They were intrigued by Pratt’s distinction between want and need and commented on the ways in which excessive choices can be overwhelming. Some of them incorporated ideas from these essays into their research papers. Pratt helped me emphasize that one of the reasons to read(or write) a book is to reflect about how the way we choose to live our lives affects our community.
More or Less offers thoughtful reflections on our relationship with “stuff.” As a mom of a big family who spent my winter break cleaning closets and sorting through piles of clothes and toys, Pratt’s experiment with a year of no buying is appealing. Her observations about the way our possessions limit and define us challenged me to rethink my own relationship with material possessions.
I liked how these essays extended beyond suggestions of practical advice. She left me thinking about my ethical responsibility to the environment and how my possessions reflect my values and can be used to connect or separate me from the lives of others in my community.
The short, accessible chapters were easy to read despite my busy schedule and I found myself thinking about her stories and the questions she raised as I went about my daily tasks. I felt like Pratt was inviting me into a conversation with others, and she was an engaging host!
I also shared a few of Pratt’s essays(”Parsing Desire,” “Mine to Choose,” and “Muddying Walden”) with students in my 11th-grade English classes to add a contemporary perspective to our discussion of Transcendentalism and Krakauer’s Into the Wild. They were intrigued by Pratt’s distinction between want and need and commented on the ways in which excessive choices can be overwhelming. Some of them incorporated ideas from these essays into their research papers. Pratt helped me emphasize that one of the reasons to read(or write) a book is to reflect about how the way we choose to live our lives affects our community.
February 22, 2022
For an entire year, Susannah Pratt and her family agreed to buy nothing other than essentials such as groceries. One of the results of this experiment is this lovely collection of essays that explores all aspects of modern day consumerism. Pratt touches on the ways we spend our money as well as the reasons, the way we as humans interact with our possessions, how those possessions relate to our memory and our identity, and even the macro economics of buying. And yet, she does all of these things, not as an academic but as a wife and mother looking at consumption through the lens of her family and their needs. This is a fast-paced, thoroughly enjoyable book that never preaches. Instead, Pratt invites readers along on her evolutionary experiment.
July 25, 2022
While I agree with a few things noted in the book, mainly that not buying at all hurts those who sell and that her goals could have better been reached by focusing more on what she wanted most and less on not shopping, the book itself was incredibly boring. It read a lot like a college essay. I bought this book because I currently plan to buy less the next year as a challenge and was looking for encouragement. I didn’t receive that from this book. I was looking for reasons and benefits behind buying less and instead just found a lot of random stories (making a Halloween costume vs buying, gifts that mean something, making a pizza oven, etc) pertaining to her family. If I wasn’t already planning to buy less, nothing in that book would have convinced me to do so.
August 1, 2022
Pg 101" all this makes thrift a much harder sell in an Instagram world" minimalism = great taste frugal + thrifty = depressing.
Chapter Consider the Lobster
References Goodbye to Fourty eighth Street by E.B White <3
Pg 70
" In every place he abandons... he leaves something vital, it seems to me, and starts his new life somewhat less encrusted, like a Lobster that has shed its skin and is, for a time , soft and vulnerable" E.B White
Pg 72 - thoughts about lobsters and how they get a new house once they grow. " I have wondered. More than once if encased in the shells of our things as we age. We lose not only momentum, but the vulnerability that allows us to identify with the pain of others. I worry that our things make us numb."
Chapter Consider the Lobster
References Goodbye to Fourty eighth Street by E.B White <3
Pg 70
" In every place he abandons... he leaves something vital, it seems to me, and starts his new life somewhat less encrusted, like a Lobster that has shed its skin and is, for a time , soft and vulnerable" E.B White
Pg 72 - thoughts about lobsters and how they get a new house once they grow. " I have wondered. More than once if encased in the shells of our things as we age. We lose not only momentum, but the vulnerability that allows us to identify with the pain of others. I worry that our things make us numb."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2022
This is a smart, engaging book about what we buy and what we keep.
Contrary to the (to me) nearly mindless approach of so many books about clutter, More or Less is a book about the nature of having enough, the push-pull between consuming and participating in community, and the meaning that adheres to the things in our closets and attics.
Pratt tells the stories of her family's approach to consuming with wit and grace, and perhaps most importantly, humility.
I can't think of anybody who wouldn't enjoy something in this book, and everyone will come away with a more thoughtful approach to what we buy, keep, and throw away.
Contrary to the (to me) nearly mindless approach of so many books about clutter, More or Less is a book about the nature of having enough, the push-pull between consuming and participating in community, and the meaning that adheres to the things in our closets and attics.
Pratt tells the stories of her family's approach to consuming with wit and grace, and perhaps most importantly, humility.
I can't think of anybody who wouldn't enjoy something in this book, and everyone will come away with a more thoughtful approach to what we buy, keep, and throw away.
June 7, 2022
Thanks to "More or Less," from now on when I'm online or pondering a shopping errand, I'll picture the new item I'm thinking of buying in its place in my house and beyond. Matched and lined up with its mates on the store shelf, it looks so tidy and useful, but do I want it taking up space in my own house and head? Where is "away" when I have to throw it away? This review sounds preachy, but Pratt is not--this book is funny and sober, smart and humble, and I'll read it again and again to remind me that my things don't measure the quality of my life or my humanity.
July 3, 2024
Interesting series of essays about one family’s decision to stop buying non-essentials for a year. While there are lots of reporting about how the family is doing, the author also explores other historical similarities between her journey and others from the past. There was interesting chapter comparing her year to Walden’s time at the pond. Overall an interesting read, particularly if one has thought much about our consumer society and how it is hard to avoid the habits of buying and replacing items on a fairly rapid schedule
February 28, 2022
Very interesting how the author and her family decided to stop all purchasing of new items during the year she wrote of. It makes me want to try doing with what I have and buying less. Very well written.
April 1, 2022
Tremendous read. Highly recommend this book as a careful, well-written meditation on consumption and what it means to live with less. Who are we, if not for our things? Read this, you will no be disappointed.
November 17, 2023
I really appreciated this collection of thoughtful essays inspired by the experiment of the author and her family to go through a year without buying anything except "necessities."
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews