Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture by Shannon Hayes

May 18, 2011 Anita Dalton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: counter-culture, cultural-studies, non-fiction, work-issues, books-we-own

Overall, I found this to be a pretty interesting look at a counter-cultural approach to living. Downshifters are nothing new, as this topic has been discussed in depth in many different books ever since the back to the land movement in the 1960s, but this updated look at this movement is definitely relevant. There are a couple of issues I don't think the author dealt with. One is that it would appear that most of those interviewed, as well as the author, live in rural New England. I think the bo...more Overall, I found this to be a pretty interesting look at a counter-cultural approach to living. Downshifters are nothing new, as this topic has been discussed in depth in many different books ever since the back to the land movement in the 1960s, but this updated look at this movement is definitely relevant. There are a couple of issues I don't think the author dealt with. One is that it would appear that most of those interviewed, as well as the author, live in rural New England. I think the book would have benefited had folks from the Southwest and South in general been interviewed because there are vast difference in rents, cost of living, and public transport availability between New England and places like Texas and Oklahoma.

Second, I was a bit taken aback with the author's dismissal for the need for health insurance. No doubt there are problems with the American health care system and no doubt health care insurance is prohibitive in cost for many families. The author's sense that obtaining exercise and eating very healthy food can eliminate many needs for health care makes sense on one level. Americans often live very unhealthy lives and eating better and obtaining proper exercise can eliminate some needs for medical care. Families that homeschool will also reduce the number of bugs brought into the home. I also appreciate the sort of fearlessness it takes to make such a decision. But it is troublesome to realize that the cost of being a radical home maker may mean exposing one's self to dreadful harm. Good food won't prevent genetically-linked cancers. Exercise won't make people bullet-proof, nor will it reduce the damage a human body receives if it is hit by a car. I really wish more attention had been paid to the idea that radical homemaking can leave families open to financial catastrophe or the very real possibility a family member could not afford life-saving medical care. This is a hard reality of living outside the realm of traditional paid work and it needs exploration. I would have given this book five stars had the author talked to a family whose child had cancer or kidney failure and showed how they managed or did not manage.(less)

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Sep 22, 2011 Meghan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: farming, feminism, food, nonfiction

"Success, in our country, is now defined by money earned, by promotions, by continuous servitude to an employer... Our gauge of success and personal worth has become so reliant on external validation that women and men now find it difficult to believe that a life centered around the home can satisfy their needs for personal fulfillment and genuine achievement." Or, as written in 1870: "Bright women should aspire, and drudges should keep the home fires burning." Yo.

"Our actual needs are so much l...more "Success, in our country, is now defined by money earned, by promotions, by continuous servitude to an employer... Our gauge of success and personal worth has become so reliant on external validation that women and men now find it difficult to believe that a life centered around the home can satisfy their needs for personal fulfillment and genuine achievement." Or, as written in 1870: "Bright women should aspire, and drudges should keep the home fires burning." Yo.

"Our actual needs are so much larger emotionally and so much smaller materially." Yes.

But for every eloquent statement like that, or for every disturbing fact about the insanity of six companies controlling 98% of world seed sales, there was also a morally righteous quote from one of the radical homemaking interviewees about their neighbors' lives of quiet misery and desperation. Everyone makes their own choices, you know? It's tough to think that most of the rest of the United States is living in a crazy way that will ultimately not lead to a satisfying, happy life, but there is a medium ground between working 60 hours with an insane commute and eating fast food every day and, say, living on the farm and bartering for dental care.

I had a strong reaction to the lines of thinking espoused in this book, and at the end I was left with a lot of ambivalence. For every argument that I found interesting, there was one that was poorly thought through and that relied on generalizations.

Criticisms:
The author relies on too few sources.

The people she interviews are predominantly white people from New England who have families that support them through donations of money and land.

The author tries to argue that parents who commute to an office job directly cause their children's allergies and asthma because their commuting and office jobs take focus away from the health of their families. (p. 120)

Relatedly, saying that "we buy prescription drugs when we no longer have time to take care of our health and get ample rest" (p. 61) is a gross generalization and denies the existence of actual illnesses that can't be cured with fresh air and local foods and exercise.

I buy into the argument that individuals should structure their decisions about how to live by thinking about what's best for their family and community, and what contributes to social justice and the health of the planet. The more you delve into what that means, however, the more it becomes clear that it is a radical choice in this culture (hence the book title). It means trading away what we think of as our security, whether that is dual incomes, health insurance, or a hefty retirement fund. What you trade that security in for is time and attention and focus. And trust, really, the trust that your needs will be met and that you won't end up living on the streets when you're old.

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Nov 17, 2011 Stephanie Western rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, nonfiction, hippieness

The beginning of this book is a case for why we need to bring back the homemaker and return to being a culture of people who create rather than consume. That part had me cheering and phoning up friends to read quotes to them.

But then she got into the "hows" and . . . I loved that less. Many of the people she holds up as examples have taken themselves much farther off the grid than I could go (especially if I wanted my husband to come with me). We're talking not having health insurance, not havi...more

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Sep 05, 2011 Mamamilkshake rated it 3 of 5 stars

The book was a very interesting read. The idea of the home as a unit of production is an idea that really resonated with me and one I've been pondering for years. It was for this reason that I have been wanting to read this book for ages. Author Shannon Hayes did a good job documenting the reasons *why* her various interview subjects went the Radical Homemaker route, making the second part of the book the highlight.

The first part was discussing the historical view of home and how traditional hom...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Kristin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-40th-year, non-fiction

I really expected to like this book, but it had so many glaring flaws I just couldn't. For one thing, it needs a different title. As others have already pointed out, it should be called Radical Homesteading because that is what the book is really about (although the "radical" is extraneous since it's pretty much exactly what homesteaders do, not just the "radical" ones). If your parents don't already have a farm you can live on and/or you have no interest in rural life, there's nothing here for...more I really expected to like this book, but it had so many glaring flaws I just couldn't. For one thing, it needs a different title. As others have already pointed out, it should be called Radical Homesteading because that is what the book is really about (although the "radical" is extraneous since it's pretty much exactly what homesteaders do, not just the "radical" ones). If your parents don't already have a farm you can live on and/or you have no interest in rural life, there's nothing here for you. Even if you buy into what she is saying and want this life for yourself and your family, the book offers no practical suggestions for achieving it--again, unless you come from a family who will give you land, or is willing to pay your bills while you remove yourself from the "extractive economy".

The book is divided into two parts. Part one is entitled "Why" and part two is entitled "How", but Hayes never actually delivers on the how. She, and most of the people she interviewed either live on land provided to them by their parents from a family farm or are having some portion of their bills paid by their families (student loans, health insurance, etc.).

She makes some good points here and there--in fact I'd say overall I agree with of her core ideas-- but the historical interpretation is questionable at best, the whole thing is poorly researched and written, and in the end it really never offers any practical advice. The good points she does make have all been made before--by far better writers. Additionally, it comes off as preachy and privileged with it's all-or-nothing stance.

Hayes seems completely blind to her own privilege. The vast majority of the people in the book, Hayes included, have college degrees and come from solidly middle class backgrounds. There is a lot of talk about how unimportant income is to them, yet most of the people in the book have household incomes which put them in the third income quintile in the US (based on the figures from 2005) and some are in the fourth quintile or higher. (Interestingly, the income from the family in which one parent is a medical doctor is not given.) Nearly all are well above the poverty line. There is a complete lack of recognition for the fact it is much easier to be unconcerned about income when your income is large enough to sustain yourself and your family.

Hayes is correct our culture is overrun by consumerism and far too many people fail to understand the real cost of what they own (or even want to own). However, she misses the opportunity to educated people about making better, more life-sustaining choices by presenting the options as a strict either/or. Although she backpedals a bit at the very end of the book, her philosophy is largely presented as an all-or-nothing proposition. If you aren't growing all your own food on your family farm while homeschooling your children, you and your spouse must be working a 60+ hour a week at jobs you hate so together you can earn the six figure income it requires to afford a McMansion in the suburbs and two brand new cars while sticking your kids in daycare and eating all of your meals out of take-out bags in front of the tv. She blatantly ignores the fact, statistically speaking, very few people are actually living that life.

I also found it interesting Hayes encouraged readers to turn their backs on the "extractive economy" and live off the land, but she was fine with people taking money from family members who worked at jobs which were part of the same system they were eschewing. I was also a bit baffled by the rationalizations of the families who turned their backs on the "extractive economy" to become self-sustaining units of production, but then sought out and accepted government aid.

I won't take the time to point out all of the nonsense (asthma caused by working parents, homeschooling to avoid E. coli, pre-industrial life re-envisioned as utopia, etc.), since several other reviewers have already done so.

I was surprised by how much I disliked this book. When it was suggested for our book group I was really excited to read it. But unfortunately it just didn't deliver. Even if you are already a true believer, there isn't much here for you.

The core ideas behind this book are important and certainly ripe for discussion in our current culture. But, they need to be supported by adequate research and practical solutions which can be implemented by those who aren't living on their family's farm.

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Dec 09, 2010 Flat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: family-studies, and, parenting

Hayes has a B.A. in creative writing and advanced degrees in sustainable agriculture, so I guess you can't be too surprised to find that she isn't that great a writer and has a weak grasp of economics. She never examines the singular reason why the nuclear family is often no longer able to subsist with just one breadwinner: namely, the government spending that leads to rising taxation and inflation. Consumerism and feminism have certainly impacted women's decisions to enter the workforce, but I...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

By page 13 I was sure that I was going to love this book because of the following quotes, "...Radical Homemakers are men and women who have chosen to make family, community, social justice, and the health of the planet the governing principles of their lives. They reject any form of labor or the expenditure of any resource that does not honor these tenets." Further down the page, discussing the hold that money and those who control money, Hayes writes, "By contrast, Radical Homemakers use life s...more By page 13 I was sure that I was going to love this book because of the following quotes, "...Radical Homemakers are men and women who have chosen to make family, community, social justice, and the health of the planet the governing principles of their lives. They reject any form of labor or the expenditure of any resource that does not honor these tenets." Further down the page, discussing the hold that money and those who control money, Hayes writes, "By contrast, Radical Homemakers use life skills and relationships as a replacement for gold, on the premise that he or she who doesn't need the gold can change the rules. The greater our domestic skills, be they to plant a garden, grow tomatoes on an apartment balcony, mend a shirt, repair an appliance, provide for our own entertainment, cook and preserve a local harvest or care for our children and loved ones, the less dependent we are on the gold."

There are some fabulous thoughts within this inspiring book. It does a great job of pointing out the emptiness of consumerist culture, of pointing out the myriad of benefits in increasing self reliance, and the richness of developing authentic community, and describing many of the problems found within the health care system and also corporate culture. However, I felt that the book suffered from some dubious scholarship, a bit of dragging, repetition of ideas that lead to feelings of deja vu, and a lack of advice on how to approach a style of radical homemaking. I feel like the book also suffers from the implication that the reader needs to jump into the deep end of Radical Homemaking: quitting your job, neglecting to have health care insurance, buying a farm and becoming nearly completely self sufficient, and homeschooling your children. That's obviously not feasible for most people, or at least requires a level of commitment to the idea that many would lack. It would have been nice to have seen a description of gradual steps that can been taken towards such a lifestyle, such as starting with a small balcony garden and canning local produce.

The book rambled a bit in parts too. I was wondering whether to give it three or four stars and decided on four, feeling that the notable strengths of the book outweighed the weaknesses. (less)

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Dec 20, 2012 Jennifer rated it 1 of 5 stars

My boss asked me to read this. Otherwise, I never would have picked it up off the shelf. It is a miracle I never threw it across the room. I was reading this at the same time I was reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. If I thought Barbara Kingsolver was slightly preachy, then Shannon Hayes qualifies as a cult leader. The goal of 'Radical Homemaking,' repeated at least once per chapter, is to "make family, community, social justice, and the health of the planet the governing principles of their li...more My boss asked me to read this. Otherwise, I never would have picked it up off the shelf. It is a miracle I never threw it across the room. I was reading this at the same time I was reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. If I thought Barbara Kingsolver was slightly preachy, then Shannon Hayes qualifies as a cult leader. The goal of 'Radical Homemaking,' repeated at least once per chapter, is to "make family, community, social justice, and the health of the planet the governing principles of their lives." What does that mean? I'm not really sure. She spent 255 pages (excluding the biographies at the end) talking about how money is bad, nobody needs nice things, and implying that only 'Radical Homemakers' know how to cook a meal. She was continuously harping on how bad corporate health care is. Yes, it is expensive and we all know the system needs improvement. However, considering how many people would give anything to have health care, if you can afford it and are passing it up because they hurt your feelings, that's simply irresponsible. And don't get me started on her love affair with home schooling. My favorite part was the paragraph where Hayes pretty much admitted most of the people in her study are hardly 'RH's' per her definition.
"The Honeywells, the Simmons and the Ianellis all had extended families with significant land resources. The Jansens'...family helped them make the downpayment on their home. Penelope and John Sloan received an early inheritance from his parents...Maryann Heslier's husband is a salaried college professor. David Peterson and Michael Mills have wives with well-paid jobs. Nance Klehm's parents have picked up her health insurance tab."
I can understand some of what is discussed in the book. After all, I left a high paying job for one I enjoy, I ride my bike as often as I can, and avoid fast food as much as possible. But there is a fine line between being radical and being a freak show. Hayes is dangerously close to crossing, if she has not already.
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Jul 31, 2012 Nate Markham rated it 2 of 5 stars

Quick read, good book. I like the first part best where she covers theory and fundamental ideological framework. She covers a very brief history of the corporation and the history of work, housework, feminism, public school and consumerism. I agree mostly, but i do not agree that public schools are bad or even that competing for employment in a global system is bad. But she has a good point of view, a person who no longer wants to participate in the global corpo-system needs an alternative, and...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Literary Mama added it

Shelves: advice, memoir

Author Shannon Hayes believes homemakers are the key to solving local and global problems. While not quite a parenting manual, Radical Homemakers is an inspiring guide for those of us who take our toddlers to Occupy protests and (or even instead of) ballet classes. Hayes interviewed dozens of men and women of all ages, married and single, parents and not, who endeavor to make the home a unit of production instead of consumption. In cities, small towns, and rural enclaves, they live frugally, gro...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars

the ideas presented are very interesting and challening, but she glosses over many probelms that most people in this county would face it they wanted to adopt this type of lifestyle. I work because I love my job and the results that I am able to accomplish that improve the lives of others. I also work because I need health insurance. Whether or not I would be able to live without medicine and doctors if I changed my life is a possibility.
I do know some people who have lived outside of the mainst...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Karen Hipson rated it 4 of 5 stars

LOVED the first part of the book. She took everything that we (well, some of us) already know about the vital importance of the home and the homemaker, spelled it out, backed it up with facts and figures, and just generally did a great job. It was so loaded with quotables that I didn't even try... just get the book. It's worth it just for the first third, even if you don't read the rest.

Unfortunately the rest of the book got more than a little long-winded, repetitive and lost my interest more th...more

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May 26, 2011 Aspen Junge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: food, feminism

Radical homemaking is what happens when Your Money or Your Life meets Mother Earth News. It's the journey of families who decide that rather than earning lots of money so they can outsource the labor of their lives, want to bring it back inside the family; thus regaining control over their expenses, nutrition, cleaning, child care, community life, etc. The reward is that you spend more time and effort on the things important to you, whatever they may be (as long as they're not too expensive). Ha...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars

I expected to like this book more than I did. While the author's imperious tone irritated me from the first page, I mostly agree with the principles behind so-called "radical homemaking" and aspire to do much of the stuff the people described in this book do. But there are a number of problems with this book, and unfortunately they marred the whole thing.

First there's the phenomenon I refer to as "I accidentally a homestead!" I read books like this and I'm thinking alright, cool, yeah, I'd love...more I expected to like this book more than I did. While the author's imperious tone irritated me from the first page, I mostly agree with the principles behind so-called "radical homemaking" and aspire to do much of the stuff the people described in this book do. But there are a number of problems with this book, and unfortunately they marred the whole thing.

First there's the phenomenon I refer to as "I accidentally a homestead!" I read books like this and I'm thinking alright, cool, yeah, I'd love to do this, I'd love to do that. Goats, chickens, sure, yeah, I could do that. Now. The land. How on earth did you get all that land? I mean that stuff's expensive and you don't work a regular job. So. The land? Hello? And inevitably the answer comes back, in a sort of muttered sotto voce, "oh yeah I uh well I own my house and land outright because I got a little bit of an inheritance." A little bit, eh? Or "uh well actually I live on my parents' vast land holdings." Ahhhh. I see. And because you don't make a lot of money you say you're just an average Joe. Except that the average Joe does not come from land-owning gentry.

This is related to another disturbing trend in this book in particular. While working for "the man" is to be eschewed by the (typically female) radical homemaker and perhaps even her spouse, time and time again people speak of relying upon the resources of friends and family who ARE working for "the man." Like someone's parents bought her corporate health insurance (which many of the other radicals, alarmingly, are "boycotting.") A lot of people were gifted large sums or parcels of land, or receive free childcare and other perks from families. A few spoke of not needing insurance because their "network" of people is their insurance. What on earth could that mean except that "if Sally gets in an accident, we'll all have to bail her out"?

Between those two problems, I started to see this whole trend as a kind of back-to-the-land trustifarianism, a 30-something way of "slumming."

Finally, while much is made of the environmental and societal advantages the author purports shall come of more and more people living this lifestyle (it seems the ideal is for everyone to be a radical homesteader of some sort) and how it will combat narcissistic individualism and save the planet, I think just the opposite could sadly be true. It is not sustainable for every small family to have its own piece of land, sufficient for livestock and a sustenance garden. There is just not enough appropriate land for this to be done. Not to mention, living in the sticks means a lot of driving--I noticed none of the families were able to go completely car-free, yet cars are one of the greatest banes of the environment, and any New Yorker, San Franciscan, Seattlite, or urban Portlander can easily live a full and hearty 90 years without ever once sitting behind the wheel. Many experts say that better urban planning is the way to go, rather than everyone going "back to the land," and I would have to agree.(less)

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Dec 22, 2010 Eileen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: craft

In a way I hate to say it, since I agree with about 70% of the practices mentioned, but this book is deeply problematic and intellectually questionable.

I expected this to fall into the how-to genre, discussing various practices people use when trying to construct a life outside US cultural norms. When it turned out to be more of a sociological study of twenty individuals (note: that's your sample size?), I was a little disconcerted, but, you know, ok. Let's read it and see how it goes. Well, it...more In a way I hate to say it, since I agree with about 70% of the practices mentioned, but this book is deeply problematic and intellectually questionable.

I expected this to fall into the how-to genre, discussing various practices people use when trying to construct a life outside US cultural norms. When it turned out to be more of a sociological study of twenty individuals (note: that's your sample size?), I was a little disconcerted, but, you know, ok. Let's read it and see how it goes. Well, it goes poorly. Like Wile E. Coyote, the author strings along an underlying bias, constantly undermining her argument through obvious personal involvement. When, at the very end, she exhorts others to join in the radical homemaking way of life, she pushes the trigger, and the book explodes.

The author has complained online about the critical response to her book, citing "the internet" as the problem. Now, ok. Certainly people are more able and likely to communicate opinions through the internet than they were even ten years ago. (We can discuss the irony of her internet-based response later.) However, I can't imagine that the intellectual community--which she does not seem to be part of, especially since the book was published on her family's independent press--would be any less harsh when putting this book up to a real peer review. Flatly, you cannot expect your conclusions to be taken seriously when your analysis has such a pervasive bias.

A few points re subject matter:

- A great amount of meticulous research went into this book. I do want to know what other people are doing to change their lives and their communities in the contemporary US, and this book tries to answer that question. Though you clearly have to keep a constant eye out for bias, the findings can be interesting, and there are plenty of them.

- Of the book's two main sections, the first ("Why," i.e. historical background) appears less biased, and the second ("How," i.e. people's current experience) seems more so. This makes the book less valuable to me overall, as I already have a reasonable grasp on western social development, but hey! Maybe you weren't a history major.

- While it's great to examine how people are using traditional practices, reordering their lives to escape consumer culture, etc., I have to draw a line at health care. I find it astoundingly irresponsible to present the concept of eschewing health insurance as a positive. Dude, we live in the US. The health care system is bad and we all know it. People go broke paying for insurance, and extra broke when they get sick. Yes, the system needs a big change, but don't chirp about homeopathy and folk remedies as viable alternatives. Just don't. It's dangerous.

- The prose occasionally has a creepy religious or conversion-oriented tone. Language like this sets off alarms in my head. For instance, the author often repeats the phrase, "honor[s] the four tenets of ecological sustainability, social justice, family and community." (Just try to ignore the missing serial comma.) While eventually it becomes clear that these four points are based on the UN-spawned Earth Charter of 2000, the language is far more in line with ritual. How about this one: "Home is where the great change will begin." Where is Karl Marx when you need him? More specifically, how do you want to be convincing? Do you want to present a clear argument using evidence to convince readers of your point, or do you want to appeal to emotion, identity, and politics? Ugh.

With all these problems, I can't take the book seriously. Not recommended.(less)

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Oct 29, 2010 sleeps9hours rated it 2 of 5 stars

Borrowed a lot from previous writers I’ve liked. Repeats the simple living message under a new label. Still a good message to get out there. Some fuzzy thinking in the theory section was annoying, and as a nonfiction book it didn't show the quality of research that I expect, but provides good fodder for discussion.

Drew from many popular previous books and then supplemented with info gained from interviewing 20 people or couples the author identified as Radical Homemakers. If you've read these, y...more

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Oct 21, 2010 Pumpkinbear rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crafty-books

Radical Homemakers, while readable, isn't really about homemaking, in my opinion. Homemaking as a defiance to consumer culture would absolutely include gardening, home canning, thrifting, etc., as Hayes describes it, but living without a J.O.B, homeschooling the kiddos, forgoing health insurance, raising cows for meat--yeah, that's homesteading, right?

Of course the very fact that the book is "radical" means that it's likely going to be read as judgmental towards the vast swathes of humanity who...more

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Sep 19, 2010 Joy rated it 2 of 5 stars

I expected to like this book because it is very much along the lines of how I think and live my life. However, this book is awful. I would go so far as to question whether Shannon Hayes should be writing books. She doesn't know how to research and she doesn't know how to write, and as such, the book is repetitive and reads like a PhD thesis. I don't know how anyone can take such a passionate subject and make it so dry and unpleasant.

Radical Homemakers is *riddled* with errors and assumptions. I...more

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Sep 15, 2010 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book and not at all what I expected (I thought it would be cleaning tips - that'll teach me to read the covers more closely)! Anyway, she documents a movement where people move away from consumer culture, creating more of their own food and earning less, living further away from the grid. They honor the four tenets of family, community, social justice and ecology. The book is well-organized, with the first half devoted to the philosophy and how it developed and the 2nd ha...more

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Apr 05, 2010 Courtney rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-latest

This book seemed like an interesting outgrowth of the voluntary simplicity movement. I liked her writing style and the first two thirds of the book was devoted to a history portion of the overall loss of the view of homemaking that involved both genders prior to the industrial revolution. The final third focused on themes emergent from the 20 plus interviews she conducted with the individuals and couples who left the traditional corporate America or academic tracks to live lifestyles centered on...more

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May 17, 2012 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars

I must admit with a title such as 'Radical Homemakers' my curiosity piqued, but after reading a few pages my motivation to read this book was fueled for different reasons. Shannon Hayes has a very scholarly yet down to earth way of speaking about women who attempt to run small farms. Lending insights to the motivations, and illustrating the obstacles that modern ladies have when attempting to make the transition from 9-5 consumerist to living off the land. She also manages not to come off as se...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Camille Baird rated it 4 of 5 stars

this was an intersting viewpoint on some very pertinent issues. I value homemaking and being self sufficient very highly and these are examples of people who have taken this to a whole new level. While their lives arent' perfect they seem to enjoy great happiness that many people lack and have the courage to follow their hearts to do whats best for them and their families as far as health issues, financial issues, social, emotional, spiritual. The examples of homemakers include young and old, ma...more

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Mar 19, 2010 Gail Williams rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It wasn't a how-to book as in how to go live off the grid with your chickens and homemade soap (although admittedly I'd love to do exactly that). It was more the stories of various people, single and married, with and without children, who are bucking against the Western culture of consumerism and individualism. The first half of the book consisted of author Shannon Hayes explaining how our culture got this way via the Industrial Revolution, and then later as advertising becam...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

Insurance companies getting you down? Screw them and ditch the health insurance! Sick of working to support a house, car and wardrobe? Live off the land and spend more time with your family! People were happier and lived longer hundreds of years ago! …Wait, no, they didn't.

I started out really liking the concept of this book, but feeling awful about myself as I read it. I felt like I could never have what it takes to chuck society and consumerism and move off the grid. Then as I moved further an...more

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May 15, 2011 Aleah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-homesteading, home-arts

Families nationwide are struggling with how to manage a growing sense of powerlessness as our world undergoes climate change, our economy flounders and public health worsens. Shannon Hayes, author of the manifesto “Radical Homemakers,” is not alone in her decision to return to the home – the foundation on which a healthy community is built. But this is not a call to return to well-coiffed housewives who wear heels as they keep house and bake pies. Not at all. Hayes is talking about turning homes...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Since I graduated college and started in the workforce, I've always felt that there has to be, to quote Roxy Music, "more than this". A career and money hasn't made me fully happy; it's never made my problems disappear. Apparently I'm not alone in this. People - women, men, single people and families - are stepping away from the corporate and money/consumption-obsessed merry-go-round, and realigning their priorities.

This is a thought-provoking and well-researched read. Part one of the book disc...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

This was a very timely read for me. I have found myself asking a lot of the same questions that come up in this book. I quit my job three years ago now and just can't bring myself to enter the rat race again. Since taking up more domestic work, I've lost weight, gotten back in shape, feel much better emotionally, sleep better at night, and rarely get sick (I used to get sick all the time). I am so much healthier and happier than I was three years ago (as is my partner) and I aim to stay that way...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Absolutely LOVED this book!!!! Almost from the first word, I was nodding to myself and bouncing excitedly as I read, so strong was my reaction to what I see as a fascinating, necessary, and approachable take on a topic that bears much scrutiny: our current culture of consumption and how it is affecting our quality of life. I have been recommending this book to anyone who will stand still long enough to hear me gush. Ms. Hayes did a good job, in my opinion, of drawing on a diverse group of subjec...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Read the introdution and then skipped the first section on theory. I enjoyed reading the anecdotal portion in the second part of the book.

This book, as one other reviewer said, is very similar to much work that has already gone before it, which is partly why I didn't read the portion on theory. I don't think she really brings much of anything "new" to the table, exept perhaps to provide current ideas in light of the recession to a newer generation.

I also didn't think that some of her anecdotal e...more Read the introdution and then skipped the first section on theory. I enjoyed reading the anecdotal portion in the second part of the book.

This book, as one other reviewer said, is very similar to much work that has already gone before it, which is partly why I didn't read the portion on theory. I don't think she really brings much of anything "new" to the table, exept perhaps to provide current ideas in light of the recession to a newer generation.

I also didn't think that some of her anecdotal examples of how people pursue pleasure or enjoy their time were really all that unique in contrast with anyone whom she has not defined as a "radical homemaker". Reading, doing crafts, working on puzzles together, picnics, etc. as opposed to finding entertainment via technology or spending money don't really seem exclusive to the radical homemaker group and perhaps she was not suggesting that they are. But, truly, it seems that these things are part of most families (that I know of).

It seems to me that she has just given a new name to those who are choosing to live simply, frugally, and with an awareness to their impact on the environment.

One piece of information that stuck with me, though, was an interesting statistic that said that once $10,000 per capita is met in a family (or similar family unit), quality of life does not increase as income rises. I absolutely agree with this, having lived marginally above and marginally below that average. I've certainly never lived with an upper-class income, but I have no desire to pursue that either, as I feel that it is rare to achieve without sacrificing time with family or personal time to just LIVE. In any event, while I know that true poverty is deblitating and wouldn't wish it on anyone, my family and I are quite content and happy even with a budget that is necessarily kept.

This book may earn more stars from those to whom the idea of living simply and more sustainably is newer. There wasn't that much new here to me, but it was an enjoyable, affirming, encouraging read for those who have been living this way for some time. (less)

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Sep 01, 2011 Kellie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, parenting, book-club

Overall I liked this book. I think she articulated well some ideas I had buried in my brain somewhere but didn't know quite how to express. I hadn't ever thought about the fact that the household used to be a productive entity and now it is almost completely consumptive, and I think it is absolutely true that the more we can move back toward producing for ourselves and focusing on our own families and households, the less we are dependent on the outside world to meet our needs and generally the...more

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