![The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture [Paperback] Shi, David E.](https://vintagebookshoppe.com/wp-content/uploads/imported/The-Simple-Life-Plain-Living-and-High-Thinking-in-American-Culture-0820329754.jpg)
Description
Paperback cover has some wear along the sides, scuffs and bending. Front and back have some stickers. Some pages have a crease in the bottom corner. Pages are clean and the binding is secure.
This well-loved copy of David E. Shi’s “The Simple Life” offers a fascinating exploration of the enduring American ideals of plain living and high thinking. Published in 1985, this seminal work traces the history and cultural impact of simplicity movements from the colonial era to the 20th century. Shi, a renowned historian and former president of Furman University, draws upon a wealth of primary sources to examine figures like Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and the Shakers, whose philosophies championed self-sufficiency, frugality, and a connection to nature. Beyond its scholarly merits, the book’s enduring relevance lies in its timely meditation on the tensions between material excess and spiritual fulfillment – a theme that resonates powerfully in our modern age of consumerism and environmental concerns. This affordable copy, though bearing the gentle patina of past readings, offers collectors and readers alike a portal into a fascinating slice of American intellectual history.
