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New Slow City: Living Simply in the World's Fastest City
Burned-out after years of doing development work around the world, William Powers spent a season in a 12-foot-by-12-foot cabin off the grid in North Carolina, as recounted in his award-winning memoir Twelve by Twelve . Could he live a similarly minimalist life in the heart of New York City? To find out, Powers and his wife jettisoned 80 percent of their stuff, left their 2,000-square-foot Queens townhouse, and moved into a 350-square-foot "micro-apartment" in Greenwich Village. Downshifting to a two-day workweek, Powers explores the viability of Slow Food and Slow Money, technology fasts and urban sanctuaries. Discovering a colorful cast of New Yorkers attempting to resist the culture of Total Work, Powers offers an inspiring exploration for anyone trying to make urban life more people- and planet-friendly.
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 27, 2014
37 people are currently reading
846 people want to read
About the author
William Powers
5 books45 followersWilliam Powers has worked for two decades in development aid and conservation in Latin America, Africa, and North America. From 2002 to 2004 he managed the community components of a project in the Bolivian Amazon that won a 2003 prize for environmental innovation from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. His essays and commentaries on global issues have appeared in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune and on National Public Radio’s Fresh Air. Powers has worked at the World Bank and holds international relations degrees from Brown and Georgetown. A third-generation New Yorker, Powers has also spent two decades exploring the American culture of speed and its alternatives in some fifty countries around the world. He has covered the subject in his four books and written about it in the Washington Post and the Atlantic. Powers is a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute and an adjunct faculty member at New York University. His website is www.williampowersbooks.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
November 1, 2015
Some nice ideas here, and a nice narrative voice, but I had some difficulties along the way.
New Slow City is, as the title implies, about "slow living" in urban spaces. This means living smaller, working less, appreciating life more, buying less, etc. All great ideas. But so much that's here is utterly unaware of its own privilege. I believe Powers acknowledges this directly on one page (thank god for page 46), but otherwise doesn't see how his ability to live this way is predicated on his identity, his past history which has set him up nicely to live this way, etc.
Disclaimer: I am perhaps seeking to critique this book because I was hurt deeply by a man that reminds me of the author. (So much is predictable about the disaffected privileged white man: down to his "Cappuccino splurges" (133) and love of the Big Lewbowski (144). Instead of consumerism, it's "Slow ritual." Yeah man, ritual absolves all.)
Many other facts here don't lie about his utter privilege.
Some specifics: on p.44-5, he describes part of his "slow week" is working in an NYC rooftop garden--a garden where a woman puts in 80 hour workweeks.
Another hilarious moment of privilege: p. 104: "It's a Wednesday, normally the second to last day of my workweek, but inspired by the Adirondacks camping trip, I decide August should be a month of seven-day weekends." HA!!!
Buys 6 acres in Bolivia and doesn't think it's an act of extreme Western/North American privilege. Hilarious.
Teaching somehow doesn't really qualify as work to him. Maybe because he only teaches one class and it's a grad class. (Pleasurable? Sure. Labor? YES. PLEASE!)
Powers' realization that instead of finding ways to ride and cheat the capitalist system, he needs to instead fight against it, comes far too late for me in the book. Riding and cheating the system should be worked out of one's system by the time age 27 or so comes around, shouldn't it?
p.174 Powers clearly doesn't understand what museums are, or are for, if he thinks that they are for "reading all the little tags and memorizing dates and names." Really dumb here.
Makes repeated statements about the beauty, the stature, the amazingness of the Freedom Tower being built at Ground Zero. Doesn't grapple with the inherent global politics of war, terrorism, city building, tourism, ANYTHING other than awe/worshipfulness. Annoying.
Another thing that strikes me is that during all this "vacation/slow time," Powers must have been keeping notes, and more probably WRITING this book. Does that not count for work? So both teaching and writing don't count for work in his worldview? It's here that I get really angry--teaching and writing are VALID WORK, HARD WORK for most people. I love both, I do both every day, but they ARE LABOR. Teachers and writers should be paid well for their trained labor. To undercut that actually helps the worst parts of the capitalist ethos.
New Slow City is, as the title implies, about "slow living" in urban spaces. This means living smaller, working less, appreciating life more, buying less, etc. All great ideas. But so much that's here is utterly unaware of its own privilege. I believe Powers acknowledges this directly on one page (thank god for page 46), but otherwise doesn't see how his ability to live this way is predicated on his identity, his past history which has set him up nicely to live this way, etc.
Disclaimer: I am perhaps seeking to critique this book because I was hurt deeply by a man that reminds me of the author. (So much is predictable about the disaffected privileged white man: down to his "Cappuccino splurges" (133) and love of the Big Lewbowski (144). Instead of consumerism, it's "Slow ritual." Yeah man, ritual absolves all.)
Many other facts here don't lie about his utter privilege.
Some specifics: on p.44-5, he describes part of his "slow week" is working in an NYC rooftop garden--a garden where a woman puts in 80 hour workweeks.
Another hilarious moment of privilege: p. 104: "It's a Wednesday, normally the second to last day of my workweek, but inspired by the Adirondacks camping trip, I decide August should be a month of seven-day weekends." HA!!!
Buys 6 acres in Bolivia and doesn't think it's an act of extreme Western/North American privilege. Hilarious.
Teaching somehow doesn't really qualify as work to him. Maybe because he only teaches one class and it's a grad class. (Pleasurable? Sure. Labor? YES. PLEASE!)
Powers' realization that instead of finding ways to ride and cheat the capitalist system, he needs to instead fight against it, comes far too late for me in the book. Riding and cheating the system should be worked out of one's system by the time age 27 or so comes around, shouldn't it?
p.174 Powers clearly doesn't understand what museums are, or are for, if he thinks that they are for "reading all the little tags and memorizing dates and names." Really dumb here.
Makes repeated statements about the beauty, the stature, the amazingness of the Freedom Tower being built at Ground Zero. Doesn't grapple with the inherent global politics of war, terrorism, city building, tourism, ANYTHING other than awe/worshipfulness. Annoying.
Another thing that strikes me is that during all this "vacation/slow time," Powers must have been keeping notes, and more probably WRITING this book. Does that not count for work? So both teaching and writing don't count for work in his worldview? It's here that I get really angry--teaching and writing are VALID WORK, HARD WORK for most people. I love both, I do both every day, but they ARE LABOR. Teachers and writers should be paid well for their trained labor. To undercut that actually helps the worst parts of the capitalist ethos.
November 5, 2017
new york's hottest club is: new slow city
this book has everything:
--micro-apartments
--two day workweek
--white people
--candlelit tub birthing
--"attractive young women...feeding pigeons almonds with their mouths"
i did not enjoy this book
this book has everything:
--micro-apartments
--two day workweek
--white people
--candlelit tub birthing
--"attractive young women...feeding pigeons almonds with their mouths"
i did not enjoy this book
October 18, 2018
Aaaand award goes to worst book I've read all year. The concept was very interesting but instead of being an inspirational account of how to live simply, sustainably, and slowly in a big city, this book is the author's musings of how "hard" it is to do this, despite the fact that he lives in the West Village (in an apartment that must cost over $3500/month) and still affords to only work two days a week. His complete and utter lack of awareness about his immense privilege is literally nauseating. The chapter on slow food? He talks about savoring two scallops at a fancy Manhattan restaurant, a meal which likely cost what normal people spend on groceries for a week. He at one point talks about the down-and-out folks living in Rockaway Beach as if they're this quaint surprise he found to feel like he's immersing himself in "reality of the city". yet then he returns to his "micro" - what he calls his tiny Manhattan apartment. Let me tell you, no one living in a tiny apartment calls it a micro, unless they've obnoxiously chosen to do so, like in his experiment. The book ends with him and his wive (after "they've" given birth) buying land in South America. yup, super relatable. And now I'm angry that I've wasted even more time on this ridiculous book by writing this review. But I had to warn you. DO NOT READ.
November 13, 2014
since we can't all live the slow life in a 12x12 cabin (bill's earlier book), he's written this one to chronicle his attempt to slow down and live simply in the world's fastest big city, New York. bill takes us with him thru his interesting and varied year of experiences and quiet, thoughtful reflections. what does it mean to live slow? how is it even possible when all around us, 24/7, the messages say more, faster, newer, higher, brighter? what is it like living inside while trying to step off that ride? this is a kind of "follow this trail" book. it helps if you have had some background in many of the amazing and influential thinkers and writers bill mentions frequently but it is not a course prerequisite. the course, bill's, can start here, now, wherever you are. it's as intimate and personal and real as chewing slowly, 30 times per bite. a Buddhist and nutritionist tip bill and his wife practice, one I think of now again at every meal. it seems small, silly even, but it's amazing how centering that can be, meal after meal, day in, day out. that's just one example of so many layers in a slower path. this is a small gem of a book. a pebble dropped in an ocean from pier 45 in New York, Thoreau-like may it have many and wide reaching ripples.
December 16, 2014
In this book a naturalist tries to live Slow in a 12x12 apartment located in the financial capital of the world. This isn't a “How To” book; it's a memoir that follows a couple's journey of trying to live slowly in a tiny apartment in the West Village. The author is a very skilled writer and makes up for the books faults by documenting his own narrative in the book. Why not talk about your income and rental price when writing a book about living slow in the financial capital of the world? How has a smartphone attached to you 24/7 changed how you think and function in the world? All of that being said this book is a really fast read and it's a breath of fresh air for New Yorkers burning out on NYC.
December 27, 2014
This book was such an inspiration, and turned out to be exactly what I needed in my life. I picked up this book hoping to find inspiration for minimalist living in New York. But I found so much more, too: leading a slow, mindful life in the city; creating conscious habits of eating and walking; questioning the best ways to live inexpensively (his point about feeling like a fraud participating in free trial experiences--like one week of free yoga!--resonated with me); and a beautiful narrative on the special highlights of living in a city. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone wanting to enrich themselves in all things SLOW. Plus, he is a fantastic writer.
September 19, 2015
I LOVED this book! Excellent writing and information. Making me make some changes in my life as I realize you can reconnect no matter where you live.
March 14, 2015
This was a great book to read this past month - it reminded me of warmer weather, and to pace myself while traversing a very icy city.
The author is very clearly about as bleeding-heart treehugger as you can get, and I say that as someone who is happy to be called those things, too. Which is to say, if your paycheck or your trendiness is your pride & joy, Powers' concerns might bore you. He also doesn't talk much about producing your own food/clothes/etc., which most "slow" practicers would consider central. On the other hand, he proudly owns that he strives for the "leisure esthetic" - which most people would feel sheepish about.
But his "leisure" is really about taking time to not only smell the roses, but maybe plant some. Or, take up some other soul-feeding activity - which in turn, makes you more well-rounded, and probably makes your work more productive. Meditation has been proven beneficial in so many ways, but Powers demonstrates how clearing your schedule also clears your mind. I certainly appreciated his attempts to balance living in NYC (and loving it) with loving nature and human expression. The fact that he and his wife were able to live in the tiniest apartment for a year and [MILD SPOILER] really want to stay at the end of it is a testament to their methods. I also appreciated that he was realistic and skeptical in his search for an enlightened daily life.
I'm not sure this book told me anything I wasn't already aware of, but it was a good reminder that taking a step back and letting go of the grind can be very productive.
The author is very clearly about as bleeding-heart treehugger as you can get, and I say that as someone who is happy to be called those things, too. Which is to say, if your paycheck or your trendiness is your pride & joy, Powers' concerns might bore you. He also doesn't talk much about producing your own food/clothes/etc., which most "slow" practicers would consider central. On the other hand, he proudly owns that he strives for the "leisure esthetic" - which most people would feel sheepish about.
But his "leisure" is really about taking time to not only smell the roses, but maybe plant some. Or, take up some other soul-feeding activity - which in turn, makes you more well-rounded, and probably makes your work more productive. Meditation has been proven beneficial in so many ways, but Powers demonstrates how clearing your schedule also clears your mind. I certainly appreciated his attempts to balance living in NYC (and loving it) with loving nature and human expression. The fact that he and his wife were able to live in the tiniest apartment for a year and [MILD SPOILER] really want to stay at the end of it is a testament to their methods. I also appreciated that he was realistic and skeptical in his search for an enlightened daily life.
I'm not sure this book told me anything I wasn't already aware of, but it was a good reminder that taking a step back and letting go of the grind can be very productive.
September 6, 2015
I enjoyed this book greatly (more than I expected to!), and I kind of want to read it again so that I can give a more detailed review.
I _haven't_ read Powers' previous book about living in a 12 by 12 cabin in the woods; this was my introduction to his writing. But I was drawn to the experiment of trying to live a more simple life in an urban area; also, Powers was apparently single in the first book, and in this one he has a serious girlfriend. She's on board, but the element of relationship growth & negotiation added to one of the overall themes, the attempt to find and nurture a human-scale community in the city.
This is the kind of book that could be absolutely insufferable in the hands of a different writer (and heck, some people may find this one so); Powers is a privileged white guy, but he's at least _aware_ that he's a privileged white guy and that his experience is his experience and not some kind of universal manifesto. There were a couple of cringe-worthy moments, but also several unexpectedly moving ones.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in community, urbanism, or voluntary simplicity.
I _haven't_ read Powers' previous book about living in a 12 by 12 cabin in the woods; this was my introduction to his writing. But I was drawn to the experiment of trying to live a more simple life in an urban area; also, Powers was apparently single in the first book, and in this one he has a serious girlfriend. She's on board, but the element of relationship growth & negotiation added to one of the overall themes, the attempt to find and nurture a human-scale community in the city.
This is the kind of book that could be absolutely insufferable in the hands of a different writer (and heck, some people may find this one so); Powers is a privileged white guy, but he's at least _aware_ that he's a privileged white guy and that his experience is his experience and not some kind of universal manifesto. There were a couple of cringe-worthy moments, but also several unexpectedly moving ones.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in community, urbanism, or voluntary simplicity.
December 30, 2014
a good book that is so rare these days. it is about balance, with nature, with ones self. author is well experienced, profound, imaginative, writes beautifully. the book changed me, in that i distaste consumption, appreciate food and nature, and ask for paper bags instead of plastic in grocery store (and thinking of getting a big sturdy grocery bag from household too)
April 23, 2017
A random library find that intrigued me by its title and premise. Very readable, and an interesting idea - to attempt to live slowly in a huge, hectic city like NYC. It started off well, with Powers doing what it says on the back cover - working two days a week and "living slowly" in NYC for the rest of the week. I enjoyed Powers' observations and thoughts on city life outside of the 9 to 5 paradigm, and the joy he finds in the parks and public spaces around the city. I felt a little cheated by the way the book progressed though...he gets a part-time teaching job at NYU and also does other work on the side, and by halfway through the book he's working 4 days a week and travelling to do speaking engagements on the side. His insights are still interesting, and his struggle to fit slow living into his increasingly busy schedule isn't without useful lessons, but the book doesn't really fit with what it promises, and that can't help but ring a bit false with the reader. Apparently Powers' "12 by 12" book (written before this one) is better, so I might check that out in the future, although after reading "New Slow City" I'll have to be aware that it might not quite live up to its back-cover flap!
September 18, 2017
I'm beginning to think that I'm all read out when it comes to books on slow living, minimalism, simplifying, etc.--I've started to realize a disturbing trend in the whole movement that veers much more extremist and elitist than I personally want to embody, and this book was kind of the last straw.
While there were a few thoughts in this that are good discussion points (mostly to do with the possibility of living slowly and more mindfully in an urban area when all around you are living frantically), this book frustrated me on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. First, I think the concept of simplifying and embracing a slower lifestyle was taken way too far--it seemed to become a matter of "how little work can I get away with" rather than an embrace of a balance between meaningful work, work that just has to be done period, and leisure time. For me personally, I don't think that the way to happiness is in having as much leisure time as possible, so I really disliked that aspect of the book.
I also came to see the further I got into the book that the whole concept behind the author's theories and experiment relied heavily on privilege--the privilege to be able to have a job that allowed him to only work two days a week, the privilege to go on all these fabulous trips around the world and see all these different ideas in action, etc. Yes, I can see that he (and his wife) have worked for their lifestyle, but the implication of the book being that no matter who you are, society as a whole should just hop on this minimal-working train is not only impractical, but disastrous--the fact is, we need people to work in all kinds of jobs, and if everyone truly just went and worked their dream jobs, we would be sorely lacking in a few key occupations that everyone relies on.
All in all, a book that largely frustrated me because it embodied everything about the current trends in the minimalist/slow living movement that I hate, and didn't focus hardly at all on the aspects of it that I love. Not one I'd recommend, personally (though I do think it might be a good book to discuss, just for the reason that it will elicit strong opinions).
While there were a few thoughts in this that are good discussion points (mostly to do with the possibility of living slowly and more mindfully in an urban area when all around you are living frantically), this book frustrated me on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. First, I think the concept of simplifying and embracing a slower lifestyle was taken way too far--it seemed to become a matter of "how little work can I get away with" rather than an embrace of a balance between meaningful work, work that just has to be done period, and leisure time. For me personally, I don't think that the way to happiness is in having as much leisure time as possible, so I really disliked that aspect of the book.
I also came to see the further I got into the book that the whole concept behind the author's theories and experiment relied heavily on privilege--the privilege to be able to have a job that allowed him to only work two days a week, the privilege to go on all these fabulous trips around the world and see all these different ideas in action, etc. Yes, I can see that he (and his wife) have worked for their lifestyle, but the implication of the book being that no matter who you are, society as a whole should just hop on this minimal-working train is not only impractical, but disastrous--the fact is, we need people to work in all kinds of jobs, and if everyone truly just went and worked their dream jobs, we would be sorely lacking in a few key occupations that everyone relies on.
All in all, a book that largely frustrated me because it embodied everything about the current trends in the minimalist/slow living movement that I hate, and didn't focus hardly at all on the aspects of it that I love. Not one I'd recommend, personally (though I do think it might be a good book to discuss, just for the reason that it will elicit strong opinions).
May 14, 2015
I enjoyed the concepts in this book and think everyone (especially workaholic professionals living in big cities) would benefit by living more slowly. Granted, there were times where the book gets a little too, I don't know, political? Granola? The scene where he freaks out over his wife buying a gourmet cupcake almost caused me to stop reading. And of course one cannot deny that the majority of us, while we may desperately want to take back our time, are simply not able to afford to shake the shackles of a 9 to 5 job. And it can be annoying to be preached to from an obviously wealthy man whose experimental slow life is in many ways not emulate-able. Of course, as a person who recently stuck it to the man and quit my job and moved to NYC, I found it refreshing, but I recognize that this very temporary phase of my life will go back to 9 to 5 very soon. We can't all get occasional speaking engagements in Morocco to keep us afloat.
January 30, 2015
author is annoying PoS
good message/theme of book clouded by his preachiness and hypocrisy
berating low level retail clerks for their part in Americas consumerism and then being buddy buddy with a guy who works in marketing on Wall Street- who manufactures the consumerism
constantly dances around the obvious fact that it's CAPITALISM
so navel gazing... I know it's a book focused on him but he comments on others and their behavior in an entirely self centered way
I was hoping he still was in nyc so i could go fart in his airsPace but sadly no
good message/theme of book clouded by his preachiness and hypocrisy
berating low level retail clerks for their part in Americas consumerism and then being buddy buddy with a guy who works in marketing on Wall Street- who manufactures the consumerism
constantly dances around the obvious fact that it's CAPITALISM
so navel gazing... I know it's a book focused on him but he comments on others and their behavior in an entirely self centered way
I was hoping he still was in nyc so i could go fart in his airsPace but sadly no
March 16, 2016
In New Slow City, William Powers, after living happily and simply in a twelve-by-twelve cabin (a story recounted in the appropriately named Twelve-by-Twelve), marries and moves with his new wife to NYC. The challenge is on: can the couple live happily and simply in a 350-square-foot micro-apartment in New York? Be warned that Powers is, shall we say, somewhat west of the status quo when it comes to living simply and slowly...I honestly can't see the mass of American people adopting many of his ideas. But even if you are inspired to try a few of his ideas, it's a book well worth reading.
December 16, 2015
if you want to read a terribly self-absorbed book written by a holier-than-thou wannabe activist who laments about working 2 eight-hour days at home a week (while his pregnant wife works full time in a office job), this book is for you! spoiler alert: though he takes the whole month of August off (just because he can), his incessant complaining does not stop. I'd love to see how he'd react to having to work a regular office job for 50 hours a week - I'm pretty sure he'd have a mental breakdown, strip down, and jump into the Hudson.
January 9, 2016
Meh. For being so in touch with the ravages of globalization, the author has a very annoying relationship with his privilege. He invokes it when convenient, but this book really is a piece of lifestyle porn at its core. I'm way less interested in Powers' navel gazing than I am in the things he did to slow down. I sense that this was an ambitious book that either didn't marry all of its themes and intentions as the author would like or got edited very poorly.
tl;dr - author was annoying.
tl;dr - author was annoying.
April 2, 2023
If I've ever read a book that gave "Eat, Pray, Love" a run for its money for pretension and self-absorbed narcissism, this is the one.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. I bought it with my own money (no ARC for this one). Very early on, I came across this line: "Our eyes locked, almost genetically, like fertilization." And friends, there was no coming back from that.
I read on in horror, almost like a literary train wreck, as the book got worse and worse and worse.
The author seems proud of his pithy, quaalude-induced-sounding comments ("If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space" was an oft-repeated one). I kept thinking he was going to say, "Psych! I'm just kidding! No one talks like this! Here's what really happened!"
Nope. The hits just kept coming.
He bragged about being rude to people, seeing his rudeness less as rudeness and more as moral superiority. For example, he encountered a woman in distress who asked the time, and instead of giving it to her, he smugly answers something stupid like, "It's *that* time." This answer only made sense to people smoking really strong weed.
For someone who thinks he's smarter than everyone else, he rarely challenges his own thinking.
He firmly rejects the idea that people should work real jobs for typical amounts of time, yet doesn't take that to its logical conclusion. His wife would have had great difficulty getting prenatal care had all the doctors decided to take his advice and work three hours a week.
He lauds the Columbian fisher for only catching what he needs for that day and going off to really live, yet failed to consider or discuss that an injury or illness could lead very quickly to starvation.
He mocks the idea of "developing countries" and "developed" countries, but fails to address that development means clean water and healthcare and sanitation that are essential for wellness.
He sounds like he's on quaaludes...the grass is soooooooooo green, the yogi's stupid, pithy sayings are sooooooooooo insightful. It reads like Haight-Ashbury sprung to life.
I can't remember a book I felt this strongly about. I hope he's not like this in real life, but where was his editor? Where was someone to pull him back from the edge with a gentle, "Hmmm, this part sounds like privileged mansplaining...perhaps tone this down?"
Stylistically, the prose is too poetic. He overuses personification, and tries too hard to sound erudite.
One thing I liked: the sketches. Oh, and the cover.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. I bought it with my own money (no ARC for this one). Very early on, I came across this line: "Our eyes locked, almost genetically, like fertilization." And friends, there was no coming back from that.
I read on in horror, almost like a literary train wreck, as the book got worse and worse and worse.
The author seems proud of his pithy, quaalude-induced-sounding comments ("If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space" was an oft-repeated one). I kept thinking he was going to say, "Psych! I'm just kidding! No one talks like this! Here's what really happened!"
Nope. The hits just kept coming.
He bragged about being rude to people, seeing his rudeness less as rudeness and more as moral superiority. For example, he encountered a woman in distress who asked the time, and instead of giving it to her, he smugly answers something stupid like, "It's *that* time." This answer only made sense to people smoking really strong weed.
For someone who thinks he's smarter than everyone else, he rarely challenges his own thinking.
He firmly rejects the idea that people should work real jobs for typical amounts of time, yet doesn't take that to its logical conclusion. His wife would have had great difficulty getting prenatal care had all the doctors decided to take his advice and work three hours a week.
He lauds the Columbian fisher for only catching what he needs for that day and going off to really live, yet failed to consider or discuss that an injury or illness could lead very quickly to starvation.
He mocks the idea of "developing countries" and "developed" countries, but fails to address that development means clean water and healthcare and sanitation that are essential for wellness.
He sounds like he's on quaaludes...the grass is soooooooooo green, the yogi's stupid, pithy sayings are sooooooooooo insightful. It reads like Haight-Ashbury sprung to life.
I can't remember a book I felt this strongly about. I hope he's not like this in real life, but where was his editor? Where was someone to pull him back from the edge with a gentle, "Hmmm, this part sounds like privileged mansplaining...perhaps tone this down?"
Stylistically, the prose is too poetic. He overuses personification, and tries too hard to sound erudite.
One thing I liked: the sketches. Oh, and the cover.
May 21, 2025
I had high hopes for this book and thought it'd be more "how-to" and less of a memoir. It is very much a memoir, and an annoying one at that. While I don't disagree with a lot of the author's philosophies and ways of living, he comes off as so unbearably smug and pretentious in the way he does it- and that is the only real takeaway from this book. Any nuggets of wisdom are overshadowed by the author's unlikability and the moral superiority that's oozing off the page. Powers is just way too happy to pat himself on the back and shit on others while constantly reminding us how much more worldly and enlightened he is than all the idiotic plebes out there.
Some especially insufferable moments:
- He comments disparagingly on a woman working on a laptop at a coffee shop, while he is just enjoying his "slow ritual" (ie. purchasing & drinking coffee, a consumerist act that is only okay when HE does it). But meanwhile he's describing every single detail of that coffee shop and every other moment of his life, so I assume he's writing and taking notes which is...working. Something he claims to only do 0-2 days a week (while his wife, by the way, has to work full-time, even through pregnancy).
-He repeatedly breaks rules and crosses barriers into places he isn't allowed, just because he feels like he should be. In one case a park worker tells him to get off a certain rock and he quite literally just ignores the guy until he has to be told a second time. And he and his wife have to be yelled at THREE times for going out of bounds while kayaking. The entitlement!
-He and his wife receive a gift card to a baby store and instead of being grateful for the gift, he's irritated and tries to get the store to give him cash so he can donate it to charity ("look at my halo!"). When the store manager (understandably) says he can't do that, he verbally berates the guy and goes on a tirade about consumerism.
-He meets a woman that he seems to have a weird fixation on and thinks about all the time, even though he has a new wife at home. Fliss is "stunning" and "dolphin-like" and "feral" and he "wants to re-connect with her." Gross, dude. You can practically feel his boner as he's watching her swim in the ocean.
-He scolds his pregnant wife and makes her feel bad about splurging (once!) on a fancy cupcake.
There's so many more moments and reasons why I can't stand this guy. Maybe he's more likable and less of a sanctimonious prick in person, but I was absolutely cringing throughout this colossal douche-fest. I do not recommend.
Some especially insufferable moments:
- He comments disparagingly on a woman working on a laptop at a coffee shop, while he is just enjoying his "slow ritual" (ie. purchasing & drinking coffee, a consumerist act that is only okay when HE does it). But meanwhile he's describing every single detail of that coffee shop and every other moment of his life, so I assume he's writing and taking notes which is...working. Something he claims to only do 0-2 days a week (while his wife, by the way, has to work full-time, even through pregnancy).
-He repeatedly breaks rules and crosses barriers into places he isn't allowed, just because he feels like he should be. In one case a park worker tells him to get off a certain rock and he quite literally just ignores the guy until he has to be told a second time. And he and his wife have to be yelled at THREE times for going out of bounds while kayaking. The entitlement!
-He and his wife receive a gift card to a baby store and instead of being grateful for the gift, he's irritated and tries to get the store to give him cash so he can donate it to charity ("look at my halo!"). When the store manager (understandably) says he can't do that, he verbally berates the guy and goes on a tirade about consumerism.
-He meets a woman that he seems to have a weird fixation on and thinks about all the time, even though he has a new wife at home. Fliss is "stunning" and "dolphin-like" and "feral" and he "wants to re-connect with her." Gross, dude. You can practically feel his boner as he's watching her swim in the ocean.
-He scolds his pregnant wife and makes her feel bad about splurging (once!) on a fancy cupcake.
There's so many more moments and reasons why I can't stand this guy. Maybe he's more likable and less of a sanctimonious prick in person, but I was absolutely cringing throughout this colossal douche-fest. I do not recommend.
August 12, 2021
Picked up this book in hopes it would provide some insight on how to live more sustainably in NYC. Book had a few moments of clarity but overall the book simply does not age well.
-every non-white person is described by their race in every single description
-talks about how attractive every woman he comes into contact with is (which for a guy with a pregnant wife just rubbed me the wrong way and also incredibly reductive of women and just plain creepy)
-barely acknowledges his entitlement
-regularly just goes backpacking on a whim while his wife keeps chugging away at her full time job. Also does this when she is "nearly" full term?
-no real thesis on what he learned during this experiment. Also have an issue with his experiment- people said he couldn't live in 12x12 in an urban area. And he didn't. He and his wife lived in more than double that (350sq ft as opposed to original 144sq ft). So, Powers, it looks like it's not possible...
-wants to make sure you know he's writing in his BOLIVIAN notebook
-gives shit to hourly workers, breaks rules that he feels he's above (like climbing over the pier railing ?????), basically is a Karen
- really feels like he's a tourist in NYC and not someone who actually lives there
- it gets worse when you realize he's not 25 writing this cringy memoir that he'll apologize for in Twitter in a few years, but actually at least 40.
In summary, the author's voice was exhaustingly upper middle class, white, straight, and cis male. You spend the first half of the memoir hoping that he'll actually have an awakening about privilege or really dig deep and explore dismantling the system in a real way and by the time your in the second have you realize that it's only getting more masturbatory and unfulfilling for, you, the reader.
It got two stars because of the few moments of clarity and because I actually could make myself finish it. Glad it was a library book.
-every non-white person is described by their race in every single description
-talks about how attractive every woman he comes into contact with is (which for a guy with a pregnant wife just rubbed me the wrong way and also incredibly reductive of women and just plain creepy)
-barely acknowledges his entitlement
-regularly just goes backpacking on a whim while his wife keeps chugging away at her full time job. Also does this when she is "nearly" full term?
-no real thesis on what he learned during this experiment. Also have an issue with his experiment- people said he couldn't live in 12x12 in an urban area. And he didn't. He and his wife lived in more than double that (350sq ft as opposed to original 144sq ft). So, Powers, it looks like it's not possible...
-wants to make sure you know he's writing in his BOLIVIAN notebook
-gives shit to hourly workers, breaks rules that he feels he's above (like climbing over the pier railing ?????), basically is a Karen
- really feels like he's a tourist in NYC and not someone who actually lives there
- it gets worse when you realize he's not 25 writing this cringy memoir that he'll apologize for in Twitter in a few years, but actually at least 40.
In summary, the author's voice was exhaustingly upper middle class, white, straight, and cis male. You spend the first half of the memoir hoping that he'll actually have an awakening about privilege or really dig deep and explore dismantling the system in a real way and by the time your in the second have you realize that it's only getting more masturbatory and unfulfilling for, you, the reader.
It got two stars because of the few moments of clarity and because I actually could make myself finish it. Glad it was a library book.
June 24, 2017
This is not one of those books where an author does something novel for a year and then points out ways you can follow him. I would put this more in the true memoir category because what he does is not really a stunt nor is it a “do as I do” kind of book. It is William Powers attempt to live in a counter-cultural way, slowly and minimally in a fast and consumptive city. Powers is the real deal, lowering his carbon footprint, trying to find the best ways to live without so much mental and physical stuff, going way beyond what most Americans (myself included) would sacrifice or invent to live this way. I was intrigued, but ultimately disappointed. The author is clearly educated and privileged, and I wish he would have explored the ways his status in the world allows him to take even take on this experiment. His narrative voice comes off as snobbish and pretentious, but I don’t think the author is actually like this, especially because of all the work he has done in other countries. The first half of the book was frustrating for me because it read like a diary where not much happens: he watches the waves on Pier 45, he sits on his roof and watches birds, etc. Granted not doing much was exactly his point and maybe he wanted to make me feel what it felt like to do nothing by reading about nothing. I thought the second half of the book was more interesting when he decided that the life of leisure was not as fulfilling as doing something in the world — he just needed to do it slow. I enjoyed the sneak peak into the course he taught at NYU and bringing my attention to the fact that we desire what companies who create things say we should desire. I wish I had been able to audit his course on sustainable development because those segments held the most interest for me, but the majority of the book, alas, did not.
February 28, 2020
I liked this book rather more than I had expected. The premise did not seem plausible or sensible - to live both small and slow at the same time in the big city. Sharing life in a small space seems to make some sense if you are out working more than a full time job, or living slow makes sense if you have room to spread out and savour and do long projects. But both small and slow seems like an exercise in deprivation and misery. So in this book, William Powers slowly reveals the story of what actually happened and proves my reservations entirely wrong. It is a gentle meditation on what is right with the world, while nudging it to be better. Also in not getting lost in the awfulness of impending doom, hurricane Sandy and environmental and social ignorance and frustration. A simple study in existence and all the more powerful because of it. A solid antidote to environmental despair. Comfort in a dark time?
March 1, 2017
I though this book did a good job at presenting the simple life style without being too "judgy."
The writing style annoyed me at times. Randomly he would just insert French phrases for no reason. Many things were also over described, instead of just saying someone was nicely dressed, he would pull out his thesaurus and stretch it into 4 sentences.
Mostly, though, it was fine. It was a nice book to reflect back on how you're living your life to focus on what's truly important.
The writing style annoyed me at times. Randomly he would just insert French phrases for no reason. Many things were also over described, instead of just saying someone was nicely dressed, he would pull out his thesaurus and stretch it into 4 sentences.
Mostly, though, it was fine. It was a nice book to reflect back on how you're living your life to focus on what's truly important.
June 24, 2017
Nice, relaxing read. His experience is interesting, but I definitely had some issues with him at times. Mostly around his two-day work week while his wife is busting ass @ the UN.
Gosh, the honeymooners in Morocco were really over the top! Put the smartphones down, people.
Good takeaway message: SLOW DOWN to really enjoy this beautiful life.
And now I'm putting my smartphone down....
THE END.
Gosh, the honeymooners in Morocco were really over the top! Put the smartphones down, people.
Good takeaway message: SLOW DOWN to really enjoy this beautiful life.
And now I'm putting my smartphone down....
THE END.
October 13, 2023
Interesting... In this book, William Powers, who once lived contentedly in a small cabin as he described in "Twelve-by-Twelve," faces a new challenge. He gets married and moves to a tiny 350-square-foot apartment in NYC with his wife. Powers has some unconventional ideas about simple living, which might not be for everyone, but his book is still worth a read if you're curious about trying a few of his suggestions.
dnf
June 29, 2025Yeah…couldn’t finish it. Just too much lingo I didn’t understand and not entirely what I was expecting - some good tidbits but most was specialized to the author’s life and didn’t feel entirely relevant/applicable to me, my values, where I’m living, etc. I think a lot of other peoples’ reviews on here express some of the same things I was concerned about/questioned in the book, related to privilege and the leisure/work balance.
Read
June 14, 2021The concept of living a slow life in the city was interesting. This is definitely more of one person's account of how they were able to live a slower life rather than a guide on how to do that. Some of what worked for the author would be out of reach for most people, but it was a thought-provoking read.
April 19, 2023
I loved 12x12, so had high hopes for this book, but it mostly came across as a spoiled guy, whose wife supports him as he flits around several countries. I couldn't relate to him at all. It has it's moments where I could almost find some inspiration in how to live slow in my own life, but then didn't. How is flying all over the world slow? Disappointing.
November 11, 2025
The dissonance between wanting to agree with the content and violently loathing the voice of the smugly superior (except not because he wouldn’t need to convey his superiority in every fucking word, would he) person doing the speaking is intense here. Wow, do I hate this man.
January 9, 2018
The author was so far removed from reality.
Cringed through the whole thing because it is assigned reading.
Cringed through the whole thing because it is assigned reading.
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