Toinette Lippe. Nothing Left Over: A Plain and Simple Life. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc., 2002. 257 pages. ISBN 158542160X.
I found Toinette Lippe's book, Nothing Left Over, at the 2014 AAUW State College Branch Annual Used Book Sale. Its simple yet attractive book jacket appealed to me, and the blurb promised a thoughtful exploration of what it means to have just enough.
I'm always interested in ways to simplify my life and manage it more effectively, so I picked up this book thinking that I might find some good advice for doing so. While the book didn't provide exactly what I was looking for, I nevertheless enjoyed Ms. Lippe's memoir about how she came to be an editor for a major publisher in New York City, and her personal philosophy of minimalism (although she doesn't use that term in her book).
Ms. Lippe spent many years working at publishing houses such as Andre Deutsch, Simon and Schuster, and Alfred A. Knopf. While there she founded her own imprint, called Bell Tower Books, which published books about spirituality. Ms. Lippe's deep interest in many spiritual traditions is reflected in her ruminations in Nothing Left Over. She writes about being present and focusing on what you're doing. She advises readers to be open to ideas and to try to say "yes" rather than "no" to new experiences and opportunities.
Ms. Lippe has retired from the publishing business, but maintains a website through which she sells not only her artwork (she's a painter), but also newer editions of both Nothing Left Over and her second book, Caught in the Act: Reflections on Being, Knowing, and Doing. While I haven't read the second book, I would recommend Nothing Left Over to anyone who enjoys books about simplicity and living a thoughtful or spiritual life.
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