Andy Couturier, The Abundance of Less

Bookshop Santa Cruz is pleased to present Andy Couturier as he talks about his new book The Abundance of Less, Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan. Couturier captures the texture of sustainable lives well lived in these ten profiles of ordinary—yet exceptional—men and women who left behind mainstream existences in urban Japan to live surrounded by the luxuries of nature, art, friends, delicious food, and an abundance of time.
Drawing on traditional Eastern spiritual wisdom and culture, these pioneers describe the profound personal transformations they underwent as they escaped the stress, consumerism, busyness, and dependence on technology of modern life. This intimate and evocative book tells of their fulfilling lives as artists, philosophers,and farmers who rely on themselves for happiness and sustenance. By inviting readers to enter into the essence of these individuals’ days, Couturier shows us how we too can bring more meaning and richness to our own lives.
Andy Couturier, a local Santa Cruz writer and writing teacher, spent four years studying sustainable living in rural Japan. There, he worked with local environmentalists, wrote for The Japan Times, and studied how Japanese aesthetics can help us develop new forms of writing. Couturier has also hitchhiked across the Sahara desert, been a researcher for Greenpeace, built his own house with hand tools, and taught intuitive writing for more than two decades. He is a student of many different Asian philosophical systems and is fluent in Japanese.

“We are in an overheated world—physically and spiritually. It is extremely powerfulto read of people who have managed to escape that world, not by travelingto outer space but by heading toward reality. This is subversive in the best possibleway.”—BILL MCKIBBEN, author of Deep Economy

“Reading this magic book is like drinking from a fresh wellspring deep in themountains: it slowly returns one to sanity. In an era when the allure of tenthousand digital screens eclipses the inner radiance of a stone lying among thereeds, how clarifying to encounter the eloquence and humility of these well-livedlives.”—DAVID ABRAM, author of The Spell of the Sensuous

“Couturier catches everything that is essential and beautiful in Japan with aclarity, sincerity, and openness that move me to the core. It’s been years sincesuch a fresh and liberating voice has emerged to remind us of the true heart ofa country that so many of us fail to see.”—PICO IYER, author of The Lady and the Monk
EVENT DETAILS: This free event will take place at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Open seating. Seats are generally set up one hour prior to the event's start time.