“His account of this experience offers an enlightening and eloquent look at the challenges of living off the grid.” – The Washington Post
“He is right: the earth talks to us, shows us, nurtures us, just as Powers prose would do.” – Chicago Sun-Times
“The beauty of the book lies in Powers’ generous intimacy…Twelve by Twelve makes a huge bow to Thoreau, but it is a far more spiritual… We watch Powers rethink his entire approach; we watch him relax into himself, become himself, carve himself out of a dream that was not his own.” – LA Times
“A penetrating account of what it’s like to move to the margins in our particular time and place. It will make you think, hard.”
— Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy and founder of 350.org
“An honest, courageous, and authentic tale of one gifted writer’s attempt to find balance in a world in crisis. Reading this deeply human book has helped me to find a more genuine peace in the midst of the craziness.”
— John Robbins, author of The New Good Life and Diet for a New America
“In this quiet, startling adventure, William Powers brings two worlds into focus simultaneously. He helps us see with fresh eyes the stultifying ugliness, homogeneity, and bankruptcy of a growth-addicted culture. And, at the same time, he helps us rediscover the beauty and liberation that radical simplicity can bring. In his engaging company, we look into the lives of sly, unobtrusive heroes who are building the new in the shell of the old.”
— Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World as Self
“How much is enough? And what is really important? These are questions that William Powers runs into again and again in his time off the grid in the U.S. and overseas, but his humble and contemplative memoir handles them with freshness and honesty, recognizing that sometimes asking the questions is more important than finding the ‘right’ answers.”
— Lester R. Brown, president of Earth Policy Institute and author of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization
“A true story of rediscovery of and reconnection with fundamental truths and values. Enchanting and heartwarming, Twelve by Twelve is a modern-dayWalden.”
— Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy, president of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment
“For anyone who has considered that there must be an alternative to our busy, speedy, hungry, consuming world, this book shows us the way. William Powers’s deeply personal journey reminds us that a return to basics and a simple life may help us to rediscover ourselves, our communities, and the natural world we live in.”
— Michael Ableman, farmer and author of Fields of Plenty
“Having recently returned from years in the Bolivian rain forest, environmental activist Powers experienced a nearly debilitating form of culture shock upon his reentry into the heart of American consumerism. His salvation came from ardent permaculturist Dr. Jackie Benton, who offered Powers the use of her spartan cabin in rural North Carolina. Living among other “wildcrafters”—organic farmers, furniture artisans, and eco-developers—Powers learned firsthand what it means to be self-sufficient in the midst of a nation that profligately squanders its resources and looks askance at those who choose to live deliberately. While there are no easy answers to be found in such an extreme experiment, Powers’ eloquent memoir reveals the breadth of this conflict and the depth of one man’s commitment to himself and his community.”
— Booklist
“[Powers’] sobering and often hilarious (taking showers in rain water warmed by the sun, learning that in order to eat chicken for dinner, he himself would have to kill a chicken given to him by his neighbors) narrative of his life in the 12’×12′ offers precious insights into the ways that all individuals living in a fast-paced consumer culture might incorporate different ways of thinking about the natural world into their lives.”
— Publishers Weekly
“On rare occasions an author translates a transformative experience into a written account that is an inspirational call to the reader.” – The Huffington Post
“It’s about growth, indecision, struggle, and joy while being full of honesty and authenticity.” – http://www.thegoodhuman.com
“It is not a book about how-to-do in a time of environmental, social, and personal perils, but about something more important: how-to-be.” –http://blog.sustainablog.org/
“It’s a thought-provoking book for sure, one I hope many will read and find themselves wondering about their own motives on a daily basis.” –http://www.bookdwarf.com/
“… “Twelve by Twelve” proposes a paradigm shift to an elusive “Soft World” with clues to personal happiness and global healing.” – http://www.off-grid.net