I read Patrick Grant's "Less" which is about ways that we should buy less but buy better and local. I was raised to "buy right and buy once" where possible so my wife thought that I would like this book and got it for me.
At its core - the values and the sentiments are exactly what we should be aiming for - not buying massive amounts from Shein, H&M, Penneys/Primark etc. and instead buying better quality, independently made clothing from companies that use as much locally sourced material as possible - and/or second hand .
That's fine but Grant is also from a very well off background - let's just say that he never had to go looking for the top off of his boiled egg.
It's clear that Grant cares about what needs to be done but someone looking for a job can't pop off to Saville Row to get a job interview suit cut by Norton & Sons, owned by Patrick Grant, for £5,000.
To be fair to him - he does own a company that makes casual clothing in the UK, using quality/ethical materials for (in relative terms) a reasonable price. And a few (though not many) of his solutions could easily be taken on board by individuals, local councils and at national level - things like repairing clothes/shoes and having clothes and shoes that are
worth repairing.
Other ideas are just pie-in-the-sky. Some of the things he suggests doing reminded me of Maggie Smith, as the dowager countess in "Downtown Abbey", asking "A weekend? What's a weekend?".
My biggest issue with this book is the amount of padding that Grant did to, presumably, hit his word count. It's 340 pages long but he could have gotten his ideals and solutions across in 200 or so pages. The are entire chapters that are basically quotes about quality or workmanship.
As Aristotle said... or take what Daniel Defoe suggested... added to what Coco Chanel said... and on and on for paragraphs.
Just started "Deliver Me From Nowhere" by Warren Zanes. Looking forward to the film release later this month but I want to know if Bruce Springsteen dies and who the killer is so I can shout it out in the cinema.
Brilliant - either him or Johnny 99.