by Carl Honore
Oiwa, Keibo. Slow is Beautiful. Tokyo: Heibon-sha, 2001. (In Japanese only.)
Petrini, Carlo. Slow Food: Collected Thoughts on Taste, Tradition, and the Honest Pleasures of Food. White River Jct., VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Co, 2001.
Pieper, Josef. Leisure: The Basis of Culture. South Bend, IN: St. Augustine’s Press, 1998.
Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
Rifkin, Jeremy. Time Wars: The Primary Conflict in Human History. New York: Touchstone, 1987.
Russell, Bertrand. In Praise of Idleness. London: Routledge, 2001.
Sampson, Val. Tantra: The Art of Mind-Blowing Sex. London: Vermilion, 2002.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York: Penguin, 2002.
Visser, Margaret. The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities, and Meaning of Table Manners. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
MAGAZINES
Kingwell, Mark. “Fast Forward: Our High-Speed Chase to Nowhere.” Harper’s Magazine, May 1998.
WEBSITES
General
www.zeitverein.com (Society for the Deceleration of Time, Austria)
www.slothclub.org/index02.html (Japan)
www.slow-life.net (Japan)
www.longnow.org (US)
www.simpleliving.net (US)
Food
www.slowfood.com (Italy)
www.farmersmarkets.net (UK)
www.cafecreosote.com/Farmers_Markets/index.php3 (US)
www.marketplace.chef2chef.net/farmer-markets/canada.htm (Canada)
Cities
www.matogmer.no/slow_cities_citta_slow.html/ (Slow Cities, Italy)
www.homezones.org (UK)
www.newurbanism.org (North America)
Mind/Body
www.tm.org (Transcendental Meditation, US)
www.webcom.com/~imcuk/ (International Meditation Centres)
www.qi-flow-golf.com (Chi Kung for golfers, UK)
www.superslow.com (Exercise, US)
Medicine
www.pitt.edu/~cbw/altm.html (Complementary and Alternative Medicine, US)
www.haleclinic.com (UK)
www.slowhealing.com (UK)
Sex
www.slowsex.it (Italy)
www.tantra.com (US)
www.diamondlighttantra.com (UK)
Work
www.swt.org (Shorter Work Time Group, US)
www.worktolive.info (US)
www.employersforwork-lifebalance.org.uk (UK)
www.worklessparty.ca (Canada)
www.timeday.org (US)
Leisure
www.tvturnoff.org (US)
www.ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw01/papers/edited/burnett/ (Slow Reading, Canada)
www.tempogiusto.de (Germany)
Children
www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0212hol.htm (Slow Schooling, US)
www.nhen.org (Home Education, US)
www.home-education.org.uk (UK)
www.flora.org/homeschool.ca (Canada)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I could not have written this book without help from many people.
My investigation into the Slow movement began with a series of articles in the National Post and I am grateful to my former editor there, John Geiger. With his deft touch, Patrick Walsh, my agent, made writing the book possible. Michael Schellenberg was a superb editor, patient, insightful and meticulous. Louise Dennys and Angelika Glover at Knopf Canada, Gideon Weil at HarperCollins San Francisco and Sue Sumeraj, my copyeditor, also helped to whip the book into shape.
I am indebted to the hundreds of people who took the time to share their stories, views and expertise with me. Only some are named in the book, but every single interview added another piece to the puzzle. A special thanks to Lou Abato; Danira Caleta; Jeff Crump; Diane Dorney; Kyoko Goto; Kathy Hirsh-Pasek; Uwe Kliemt; George Popper; Carlo Petrini and everyone at Slow Food; David Rooney; Val Sampson; Alberto Vitale and Gabriele Wulff.
I would like to thank my parents for their encouragement, and for helping to fine-tune the book. Most of all, I am grateful to my wife, Miranda France, for her unstinting support, her way with words and her knack for seeing the funny side of things.
INDEX
Abato, Lou, (i)
Abbey, Edward, (i)
Abe, Nobuhito, (i)
acceleration, (i), (ii)
Achten, Juul, (i)
Adam, Jurgen, (i)
Age of Leisure, (i), (ii)
alarm clocks, (i)
Alberti, Leon Battista, (i)
Alessandria, Luciana, (i)
alpha waves, (i)
American Nervousness (Beard), (i)
Andersen, Hans Christian, (i)
Anna Karenina (Tolstoy), (i)
anti-globalization, (i)
Apple Tree school, (i)
Aristotle, (i)
art and deceleration, (i)
artisanal food
bakers, (i)
beer making, (i)
catalogue of, (i)
flavour of, (i)
overseas markets, (i)
regulation of, (i)
restaurants, (i)
Arts and Crafts movement, (i), (ii)
assembly line, first, (i)
As Slow As Possible (Cage), (i)
Atkins, John, (i)
attention deficit disorder, (i)
Awakening of the Senses, (i)
Bach, J.S., (i)
Barnes, Alex, Nicola and Jack, (i), (ii)
Beard, George, (i)
“beeper medicine”, (i)
Beethoven, Ludwig van, (i)
Bellow, Saul, (i)
Benedictines, (i), (ii)
Benolli, Fabrizio, (i)
beta waves, (i)
Bethlehem Steel Works, (i)
“bicycle face”, (i)
Bischoff, Gudula, (i)
Bischoff, Roger, (i)
The Bitch in the House (book), (i)
Boyd, Charmion, (i)
Brahms, Johannes, (i)
Brillat-Savarin, Anthelme, (i), (ii)
Brodie, John, (i)
Burnett, Dale, (i)
Bush, George W., (i)
Cage, John, (i)
calendar, (i)
“Calendar of 1448”, (i)
Caleta, Danira, (i)
Callaghan family, (i)
cars, (i)
and bans, (i)
Neighbourhood Pace Program, (i)
parking, (i)
passion for speed, (i)
people, (i)
reckless driving, (i)
social contact, (i)
Speed Awareness Program, (i)
speeding, (i)
time, (i)
urban planning, (i)
Car Smart, (i)
Casson, Herbert, (i)
Cervantes, Miguel de, (i)
Chakrabarti, Suma, (i)
chi, (i)
chickens, and Slow Food, (i)
Chi Kung, (i), (ii)
children and
costs of hurry, (i)
decelerating, (i)
early learning, (i)
extracurricular activities, (i), (ii)
the Industrial Revolution, (i)
play, (i)
schedules, (i)
school, (i)
Slow philosophy, (i)
speed, (i)
television, (i)
children’s fiction, (i)
Churchill, Winston, (i)
cities, history, (i)
Citta Slow (movement), (i)
See also Slow Cities
The City Gardener (television show), (i)
A Cityless and Countryless World (Olerich), (i)
Clarke family, (i)
Claxton, Guy, (i), (ii)
clocks
backlash against, (i)
harmonizing, (i)
Industrial Revolution and, (i)
influence, (i)
as “key machine”, (i)
Long Now Foundation and, (i)
mechanical, (i), (ii)
modern capitalism and, (i)
public, (i)
water, (i)
windup alarm, (i)
Clock Time, (i)
Cobra, Maximianno, (i)
Cohen, Mark, (i)
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, (i)
Collins, Ingrid, (i)
Comerford, Joseph, (i)
Common Agricultural Policy (EU), (i)
communal dining, and speed, (i)
complementary and alternative medicine
with chronic illnesses, (i), (ii)
codes of practice, (i)
conventional medicine, (i)
economics, (i), (ii)
healing times, (i)
holistic healing, (i)
“integrative medicine”, (i)
misinformation, (i)
prevention, (i)
private benefit packages and, (i)
scientific proof, (i)
Constable, John, (i)
consumerism, (i)
Contegiacomo, Sergio, (i)
Cottrell, David, (i)
counterculture, (i)
Count Kaiserling, (i)
crafts, (i)
“cram schools”, (i), (ii)
Creighton, Catherine, (i)
Crichton-Browne, Sir James, (i)
Crump, Jeff, (i)
Curator of Time, (i)
curfews, (i)
Darwin, Charles, (i), (ii)
dawn, (i)
deceleration, (i), (ii)
Decelerators, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
Dembowski, Paula, (i)
Descartes, René, (i)
de Tocqueville, Alexis, (i)
Dickens, Charles, (i), (ii)
Dimmock, Charlie, (i)
Domaratzki, Karen, (i), (ii)
Donington, Robert, (i)
Don Quixote (Cervantes), (i)
Dossey, Larry, (i), (ii)
downshifting, (i)
Drabert, Angelika, (i)
Driscoll, Bridget, (i)
Dyer, Tim, (i)
East of Eden (Steinbeck), (i)
eating slowly, (i)
eco-gastronomy, defined, (i)
education
costs, (i)
in East Asia, (i)
in Finland, (i)
in Germany, (i)
government and, (i)
home-schooling, (i)
“hothousing” and, (i)
in Japan, (i)
private schools, (i)
public schools, (i)
Slow philosophy and, (i), (ii)
“sunshine” approach and, (i)
eigenzeit (“own time”), (i)
Eightfold Noble Path, (i)
Einstein, Albert, (i)
Einstein Never Used Flash Cards (Hirsh-Pasek), (i)
Electric Signal Clock company, (i)
electric tram, first, (i)
Elen, Richard, (i)
Elkind, David, (i)
e-mail, (i), (ii)
Emile (Rousseau), (i)
environmentalism, (i)
ephedra, (i)
epinephrine, (i)
escalator, first, (i)
Europa Philharmonia Budapest Orchestra, (i)
exercise, (i)
existential malaise, (i)
farmers’ markets, (i), (ii), (iii)
farms, (i), (ii), (iii)
Fast, definition, (i)
fast food, (i), (ii)
Fast Food Nation (Schlosser), (i)
Fast medicine, (i)
fast thinkers, (i)
Fast Thinking, (i), (ii)
Finer, Jem, (i)
Finnish school model, (i)
Fisher, Carrie, (i)
Fonda, Jane, (i)
food studies, (i)
Ford, Bill, (i)
Ford Motor Company, (i)
Forrest, Marlene, (i)
Franklin, Benjamin, (i), (ii)
Friedrich, Caspar David, (i)
Garden City movement, (i)
Gardener’s Question Time (radio show), (i)
gardening, (i), (ii)
Generation Fureeta, (i), (ii)
Girdner, John, (i)
global food industry, (i), (ii)
global standard time, (i)
gobble, gulp and go, (i), (ii)
The Goldberg Variations (Bach), (i)
Green, William, (i)
Griffin family, (i)
Grimshaw, Len, (i)
Guimard, Emilie, (i)
Gulliver’s Travels (Swift), (i)
Gusardi, Paolo, (i)
Gutenberg printing press, (i)
Gwvilyn, Daffyd ap, (i)
Hale Clinic, (i), (ii)
Hale, Teresa, (i)
Hall, Mike, (i)
Hancock, Jill, (i)
Hanh, Thich Nhat, (i)
Hanotaux, Gabriel, (i)
Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind (Claxton), (i)
Hartley, Jenny, (i)
Hawking, Stephen, (i)
health care costs, (i)
Heller, Erwin, (i), (ii)
Hell on Earth Made Heaven (Savory), (i)
Hensher, Philip, (i)
Hensrud, Donald, (i)
Hillis, Danny, (i)
Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy, (i)
Hodgson, Randolph, (i)
Holford, Robert, (i)
Holland, Peter, (i)
Holmes, Sherlock, (i)
Holt, Maurice, (i), (ii)
hourglass, (i)
hourly wages, (i)
Howard, Celia, (i)
Howard, Ebenezer, (i)
How to Make a Hit Record (Jahn), (i)
How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn Hard (Kriegel), (i)
Hughes, Jim, (i)
The Hurried Child (Elkind), (i)
Hutchins, Ken, (i)
“hyper-parenting”, (i)
I Don’t Know How She Does It (Pearson), (i)
The Importance of Being Lazy (book), (i)
industrial capitalism, (i)
industrial farms, (i), (ii)
industrialization, (i)
Industrial Revolution and
the Age of Leisure, (i)
children, (i)
clocks, (i)
gardening, (i)
hourly wages, (i)
meals, (i)
pace of life, (i), (ii)
schedules, (i)
urbanization, (i)
instant noodle, introduction, (i)
Institute of Child Study Laboratory School, (i)
International Meditation Centre, (i)
International Olympic Committee, (i)
inventions, and time saving, (i)
Jahn, Mike, (i)
James, Gary, (i)
James, Matt, (i)
The Jetsons, (i), (ii)
job-sharing (i)
See also working; work-life balance
John Cage Project, (i)
Johnson, Samuel, (i), (ii)
Juventus, (i)
Kafka, Franz, (i)
Kale, Arvind and Shanta, (i)
Kama Sutra, (i)
karoshi, (i)
Kemp, Dan, (i)
Kentlands, (i)
Keynes, John Maynard, (i)
Kimber, Cathy and Roger, (i), (ii)
Kingwell, Mark, (i)
Kipling, Rudyard, (i)
Kitching, Louise, (i)
Kleist, Norbert, (i)
Kliemt, Uwe, (i)
knitting, (i)
Koike, Hiromi, (i)
Kovacevich, Matthew, (i)
Kraft dinner vs. macaroni and cheese, (i)
Kraft Foods, (i)
Kriegel, Robert, (i)
Kumar, Satish, (i)
Kundalini shaking, (i), (ii), (iii)
Kundera, Milan and
the fast lane, (i)
speed, (i), (ii), (iii)
wisdom, (i)
Kwakiutl people, (
i)
Lagasse, Emeril, (i)
La Jamais Contente, (i), (ii)
Lamb, David, (i)
Lamiri, Jo and Sam, (i)
Lawrence, Tom, (i)
Lawson, Nigella, (i)
Layton, Mark, (i)
The Lazy Person’s Guide to Success (book), (i)
The Lazy Way to Success (book), (i)
Leckford Estate, (i)
leisure
age of, (i), (ii)
classes, (i)
culture, (i)
as a human right, (i)
revolution, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
Lewis, Harry, (i), (ii)
Lieberman, Susan, (i)
Lighthouse Bakery, (i)
Lightwoman, Leora, (i), (ii)
Lionboy (Young), (i)
Liszt, Franz, (i), (ii)
Little Dorrit (Dickens), (i)
Long Now Foundation, (i), (ii)
Longplayer, (i)
Low, Tom, (i)
machine age, (i)
Machlowitz, Marilyn, (i)
Magnoni, Vittorio, (i)
Mahler, Gustav, (i)
Marino, Mike, (i)
Marriott hotel chain, (i)
Martinez, Susana, (i)
Martinis, Anjie, (i)
Masajes a 1000, (i)
Mayle, Peter, (i)
McDonalds
average meal times, (i)
in Italy, (i), (ii)
The Jetsons, (i)
obesity, (i)
McGuffey’s Readers, (i)
Measuring Time exhibit, (i)
mechanical clocks
invention of, (i)
protest and, (i)
in town squares, (i)
medicine and
nature, (i)
relaxation in healing, (i)
Slow-style therapies, (i)
speed, (i)
meditation, (i)
brain waves and, (i)
rooms, (i)
transcendental, (i)
Meighan, Robert, (i)
Meir, Golda, (i)
microwave ovens, (i), (ii)
Millet, Jean-Francois, (i)
mind and body, (i), (ii)
Mirabeau, Octave, (i)
Miro, Elena, (i)
mobile phone addiction, (i)
Moby “Thousand” (song), (i)
Model T Ford, (i)
modern capitalism, (i)
Montgomery, Lindsay, (i)
Morelli, Cinzia, (i)
Morelli, Pierpaolo, (i), (ii)
Morris, William, (i)
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, (i)
“Rondo alla Turca”, (i)
Sonata, C Major, KV 279, (i)
multi-tasking, (i)
Mumford, Lewis, (i)
Munck, Bill, (i)
Murphy, Bernadette, (i)
music
human rhythms and, (i)
metronome markings in, (i), (ii)
slowness and, (i), (ii)
speed and, (i)
Tempo Giusto and, (i)
tempo of, (i)
National Safety Council, (i)
Natural Time, (i)
Neal’s Yard Dairy, (i)
Neighbourhood Pace Program, (i)