In the late seventies, at the age of eighteen and with a seventh-grade education, Dolly Freed (a pseudonym) wrote Possum Living about the five years she and her father lived off the land on a half-acre lot outside of Philadelphia. At the time of its publication in 1978, Possum Living became an instant classic, known for its plucky narration and no-nonsense practical advice on how to quit the rat race and live frugally. And now decades later the good people at Tin House Books are reissuing Possum Living for the next generation of disillusioned people seeking an alternative to an economic system that uses everyone but only adequately provides for a few.

In her delightful, straightforward, and irreverent style, Freed guides readers on how to buy and maintain a home, dress well, garden, raise farm animals, dumpster dive, fish in public waters, avoid building permits, preserve herbs, make your own wine, cope with the law, stay healthy, save money, and be lazy, proud, miserly, and honest, all while enjoying leisure and keeping up a middle-class façade.

Thirty years later, Freed's philosophy is world-renowned and Possum Living remains as fascinating, inspirational, and pertinent as it was upon its original publication. Especially her convincing argument that it’s hypocritical to buy meat in a store you wouldn’t or couldn't kill yourself. This updated edition includes new reflections, insights, and life lessons from an older and wiser Dolly Freed, whose knowledge of how to live like a possum has given her financial security and the confidence to try new ventures.

Following her success as an author, Dolly Freed grew up to be a NASA aerospace engineer. She put herself through college after acing the SATs with an education she received from the public library. She has also been an environmental educator, business owner, and college professor. She now lives in Texas with her husband and two children.

Watch a documentary about Possum Living below.

Possum Living will be re-released in January 2010 but you can pre-order it now through Tin House Books. Read an excerpt here. 224 pages, $11

posted by: Brent Carter

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Read: Possum Living, How To Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money

December 29, 2009 Art, communication, culture, The Rathaus

In the late seventies, at the age of eighteen and with a seventh-grade education, Dolly Freed (a pseudonym) wrote Possum Living about the five years she and her father lived off the land on a half-acre lot outside of Philadelphia. At the time of its publication in 1978, Possum Living became an instant classic, known for its plucky narration and no-nonsense practical advice on how to quit the rat race and live frugally. And now decades later the good people at Tin House Books are reissuing Possum Living for the next generation of disillusioned people seeking an alternative to an economic system that uses everyone but only adequately provides for a few.

In her delightful, straightforward, and irreverent style, Freed guides readers on how to buy and maintain a home, dress well, garden, raise farm animals, dumpster dive, fish in public waters, avoid building permits, preserve herbs, make your own wine, cope with the law, stay healthy, save money, and be lazy, proud, miserly, and honest, all while enjoying leisure and keeping up a middle-class façade.

Thirty years later, Freed’s philosophy is world-renowned and Possum Living remains as fascinating, inspirational, and pertinent as it was upon its original publication. Especially her convincing argument that it’s hypocritical to buy meat in a store you wouldn’t or couldn’t kill yourself. This updated edition includes new reflections, insights, and life lessons from an older and wiser Dolly Freed, whose knowledge of how to live like a possum has given her financial security and the confidence to try new ventures.

Following her success as an author, Dolly Freed grew up to be a NASA aerospace engineer. She put herself through college after acing the SATs with an education she received from the public library. She has also been an environmental educator, business owner, and college professor. She now lives in Texas with her husband and two children.

Watch a documentary about Possum Living below.

Possum Living will be re-released in January 2010 but you can pre-order it now through Tin House Books. Read an excerpt here. 224 pages, $11

posted by: Brent Carter

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