Stuffocation: Living More with Less - Softcover

Wallman, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241971543 ISBN 13: 9780241971543

Publisher: Penguin, 2015

Synopsis

In this groundbreaking book, trend forecaster James Wallman reveals the world's growing sense of Stuffocation - and how we can move away from it

'Like The Tipping Point meets Freakonomics - but with a huge idea at its heart' Sunday Times

We have more stuff than we could ever need - clothes we don't wear, kit we don't use, and toys we don't play with.

But having everything wethought we wanted isn'tmaking us happier. It's badfor the planet. It's clutteringup our homes. It's makingus feel 'stuffocated' andstressed - and it might evenbe killing us.

In this groundbreaking book, trend forecaster James Wallman finds that a rising number of people are turning their backs on all-you-can-get consumption, from the telecoms exec who's sold almost everything he owns, to the well-off family who have moved into a remote mountain cabin.

Wallman's solution to our clutter crisis is less extreme, but equally fundamental. We have to transform what we value. We have to focus less on possessions and more on experiences. Rather than a new watch or another pair of shoes, we should invest in shared experiences like holidays and time with friends.

With intriguing insights on psychology, economics and culture, Stuffocation is a vital manifesto for change. It has inspired those who have read it to be happier and healthier, and to live more, with less.

James Wallman is a journalist, trend forecaster, speaker, and author. He has written for GQ, the New York Times, the FT, and advised clients such as Absolut, BMW, Burberry, and Nike. James wrote the futurology column in T3 magazine and was editor of The Future Laboratory's forecasting publication. He has an MA in Classics from Oxford University and an MA in Journalism from the University of the Arts London. He has lived in France, Greece, and Palo Alto in California and currently lives in London with his wife and children.

About this title

Review

Amazing, brilliant, incredible ... It's going to change my life. Buy this book and give 10 others away (Chris Evans BBC Radio 2 The Chris Evans Breakfast Show)

It will definitely change your life and could change the world (Chris Evans)

Fascinating, inspiring, and great fun to read (Sunday Times)

Persuasive... clever (Financial Times)

With a sociologist's eye and a storyteller's ear, James Wallman takes us on a tour... he identifies the rise of a new value system among those who are consciously replacing materialism with what he rightly calls experientialism. Spot on (B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, authors, The Experience Economy)

James Wallman has engagingly woven a mix of true-life stories to demonstrate why our materialistic society no longer makes us happy and what we can do about it. This is written with warmth and wit. The surprise is that Wallman's glimpses of the future also illuminate, with rare insight, the difficult process of culture change (Caroline van den Brul MBE, author, Crackle and Fizz)

Mixes personal and social commentary with a sympathetic understanding of where excessive consumerism comes from, and also has really good recommendations on what to do about it. An original, provocative mixture (Peter N Stearns, provost, George Mason University)

An exhilarating ghost train ride through the madness of over-consumption, during which we are taunted by our own greed. Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel - and James Wallman takes us there (Mark Tungate, author, Adland: A Global History of Advertising)

Stuffocation will take you on the journey of your life. As Wallman builds his case, the true value of experience emerges and resonates .... I'll venture that no one goes unchanged by this book (Jeanne E Arnold, professor, department of anthropology, UCLA)

What Malcom Gladwell did for psychology in Blink, James Wallman does for the fascinating world of trend forecasting in Stuffocation. Backed with quirky stories and compelling examples that are a joy to read, Wallman lifts the veil on why we live the way we do today... and why our obsession with 'stuff' may be about to change. You'll never look at a visit to the shops in the same way again. A gem (Marianne Cantwell, author, Be a Free-Range Human)

Book Description

In this groundbreaking book, trend forecaster James Wallman reveals the world's growing sense of Stuffocation – and how we can move away from it.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0241971543
• ISBN 13: 9780241971543
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368