|
| 
 enlarge | Author: Ernie J. Zelinski
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $8.90
You Save: $8.05 (47%)
New (28) Used (25) from $4.95
Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 40678
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 6.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1580085520
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.38
EAN: 9781580085526
ASIN: 1580085520
Publication Date: October 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: NEW. Brand New with the faintest of shelfwear. Trade Paperback. 100% Money Back Guarantee on all Items. We ship DAILY with free delivery confirmation. Choose expedited for FAST delivery. We believe in providing accurate grading on used books and excellent customer service. Five Star Seller with thousands of satisfied customers... buy with confidence.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Feel Good About Not Working! May 8, 2005
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I read this book years ago, and then again in the new "21st century" edition.
Though the content hasn't changed much from one edition to another, the ideas Zelinski presents for being happily unemployed are just plain good fun.
They're "feel good" stuff; not meant to be taken TOO seriously, (and certainly not applicable for everyone) which offer fun and funny ways to enjoy your unemployed state.
Reviewer: Linda Painchaud-Steinman, PARK EDGE BOOKS
 Should Be Titled 'How to Live In Poverty Forever' April 20, 2005
31 out of 34 found this review helpful
This book is oversimplified fluff. The author makes it sound like a person can effortlessly make ends meet without working or by working part time on $6000 a year. No mention of where that $6000 is supposed to come from (you need more than $150,000 saved up to reliably make $6000 a year). No mention of how one is supposed to cover health insurance, a home, meals, transportation, travel, etc. If your dream is to live like a 20 year old, with no responsibilities, no family, and no money, this book is for you.
Several of the people he uses as examples of living the Life or Riley include a 50 year old guy who lives in a used camper, an ex-Domino's delivery boy who's 27 and plans to ride his bike the rest of his life, and some guy who sings on a street corner. There was not one example of a husband and wife with several children living his so-called Life of Riley. $6000 a year? That's called poverty.
Much of the book is quite repetitive. He must use "write a novel" about a dozen times as a way to spend one's time and make money. You know how difficult it is to write a novel? I'd say perhaps 1 in a 1,000 people have the skills to actually write a decent novel. His list of 300 things to do to keep busy and make enough to get by is trite and laughable.
One good thing he does talk a lot about is don't waste your time watching TV (I stopped watching TV about 5 years ago and it was life changing). Although if you follow his advice, about the only thing you will be able to afford to do is watch TV.
Deciding to retire or seriously cut back your work schedule is not something to take lightly, especially for someone who is under 50 or does not have great health. The author makes it sound like it's a simple process and provides no concrete details on how to make it happen. Here's my advice: work your butt off, save as much as possible, don't buy what you don't really need, invest wisely, and know when enough is enough.
There are two far superior books: Your Money or Your Life and The Millionaire Next Door.
I would only recommend this book to someone who is near retirement age or has the financial means to cut back his or her work schedule. It has some decent ideas on how to keep busy.
Hilarious and Insightful! March 22, 2005
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
"Joy" hits the bulls-eye! Zelinski humorously and poignantly drives home the notion that overwork is a growing epidemic, and that too often people work for work's sake, sacrificing quality of life in the process. Nowhere is this message more important than in the United States, where we work far longer hours each year than in any other industrialized nation.
Can everyone simply go out and thumb their nose at their employer? Of course not, but that's missing the point. "Joy" is as much if not more about changing your mindset as it is about changing your job or employment status. "Not working" can mean anything from cutting back your overall work hours to taking a 6-month sabbatical to playing hooky for an afternoon.
Read "The Joy of Not Working" and free yourself once and for all from the "must-work" mentality, and discover a life beyond the job.
-Dean LaTourrette
Co-author, Time Off! The Unemployed Guide to San Francisco
and the forthcoming Time Off! The Upside to Downtime (June 2005, Leisure Team Productions)
Simplistic, Moralistic, & Loaded with Assumptions February 8, 2005
23 out of 38 found this review helpful
You're not going to find a book that truly discusses education, retraining, work, the workplace, leisure time, retirement, financial reward, and empowerment, among others - at least not in the self-help genre. It is far more likely to find a book that makes utterly simplistic assumptions about these matters and basically puts it on the back of each individual to overcome the dysfunctionality found in many of our primary institutions. And this is such a book.
No - people do not work long and hard at their jobs because they are workaholics, need imposed structure, are non-creative, are afraid to lead balanced lives, and insist on living an extravagant lifestyle, as the author claims. Perhaps the most ridiculous contention of the author is that due to the willingness of boomers to be workaholics, employers can downsize their workforces - no mention of coercion, no lack of employee empowerment to set limits. For the author, the inability of someone to accept being laid off for its potential for individual growth is a sign of lack of character. He gives glowing accounts of several non-workers living on six thousand dollars a year - of course, where that money comes from is not detailed. Perhaps the author, a Canadian, is unaware that an American family could not so much as purchase health insurance for that sum. Should one forget about food, housing, transportation, clothes, etc? He fails to come clean on his target audience. At times he seems to be talking mostly to vagabonds, not families. Maybe we should all pedal around New Zealand on our bicycles for six months and live on the dividends and interest from our portfolios of stocks and bonds that he does not mention or on the proceeds of lousy books. Or, in another case, become a singer on a street corner.
Find out who you are - what is your essence. Do what you really want to do. That all sounds good. If you can't do that, the author lists 300 things to do, most of which are so utterly trite as to be silly. Virtually none of them would result in any kind of payment. Too bad we all can't have jobs that give great independence and self-satisfaction. Most of us need our jobs that are not some kind of ultimate experience. That does not mean that we are workaholics, are incapable of leading balanced lives, and insist on being extravagant. And yes, for us multi-dimensional people, the loss of a job is life destabilizing, if not threatening. And that has nothing to do with character flaws. But then the author would contend that those in that boat should have been preparing for their new idealistic career presumably using all of that free time, extra wages, and insight.
The principal advice of the author to be fully engaged in what you do, whether that is inside the workplace or outside of it, is not bogus, if given in the context of realities. It is not necessary to chide people for their insecurities - there is a basis for them. The workplace does not have to a bastion of power, even of tyranny, where arbitrary acts against employees are the prerogative of management. The European system of works councils and a realistic safety net is empowering to employees. It prevents the most egregious forms of scrap heaping that American employers insist upon.
I doubt if this author is capable of writing the kind of book that needs to be written. It is obvious that he feels immensely happy with having escaped from the system in some sense. He does not recognize his unique position, or sheer luck and the impossibility, in the current political and legal climate, of most people being able to follow in his footsteps. The author even invokes Tolle's "Power of Now" to suggest that most of us worry too much about our stultifying lives and should become present-oriented in our new harmonious situations. I do know that all of the gloating, preaching, distortions, and nonsensical and simplistic suggestions are more than annoying.
Lacking on the "How To" part.... January 8, 2005
13 out of 18 found this review helpful
This book opened my eyes even wider to the negative impact being apart of the rat race has on one's mental and physical health. Zelinksi's advice on engaging in recreational activites and minimizing debt is worth following. However, what this book lacks is in depth knowledge about "how to" really survive or live on very little money when one has given up the rat race for self discovery in the meantime.
Many Americans believe that this "Life of Riley" way of living is impossible to achieve because a lot of money is required for everything here, especially healthcare! I used to think the same way until I read the following book...
"Living Well on Practically Nothing" by Edward Romney is a true instruction manual for people who either don't make enough money from their jobs, are retired or unemployed. An excellent book! The title really says it all.
|
|
|
The Outpost Network | |
