Keep It Simple : A Defense of the Earth

New York, NY, U.S.A.: W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated, 1992. First Edition First Printing Stated . Hard Back. Fine/Very Good. 6" x 9 1/2. Nichols, John - Photography. Unpaginated. White cloth with red spine lettering. Unclipped dust jacket price $25. Gift quality. Several years ago when John Nichols felt his life was out of control, he decided to forge a less complex, and far healthier existence. As part of the process, he used a camera to help himself stop and smelll the flowers. In this way he soon developed a new sense of proportion which led to a muchmore balanced lifestyle. Beginning with a Thoreauvian exhortation to simplify, and ending with a series of photographs which comprise a hosanna to the traquil life, this book is a gentlyl yeat persuasive call to arms for a better environment. About the photographs he wirtes the unassuming picdtdures I made during this timejibed perfectly withmy mood. They joined the healing process, reflecting the goals I was striving to achieve. Anthill pebbles or lichens on a gravestone may seem like prosiac fare, yet by paying attention to these matter-of-fact wonders, I sure quited my soul. In both words and picdtures, Nichols details how the struggle to regain his own health led to a much wider understanding o how we all can lead an environmentally compassionate life. Previous fiction by Nichols were The Sterile Cuckoo, The Wizard of Loneliness, The Milagro Beanfield War, The Magic JOurney, The Nirvana Blues, A Ghost in the Music, American Blood , and An Elegy for September. Previous non-fiction included If Mountains Die, The Last Beautiful Days of Autumn, On The Mesa, A Fragile Beauty, and The Sky's the Limit. The book is dedicated to my good friend and cohort in crime --- Bill Rusin In Loving memory of Santa Fe Adobe Style, Las Vegas Neon, and Autumn in Maine. RIP. Nichols lives in Santa Fe.