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  • Published: 24 June 2015
  • ISBN: 9780142181799
  • Imprint: Plume
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $32.99

The Big Tiny

A Built-It-Myself Memoir



A graceful, inspired memoir about building a home from scratch and discovering a true sense of self--in just 84 square feet--by Dee Williams, a pioneer in sustainable living and the proud owner of a very tiny house.

Part how-to, part personal memoir, The Big Tiny is an utterly seductive meditation on the benefits of slowing down, scaling back, and appreciating the truly important things in life.
 
More than ten years ago, a near-death experience abruptly reminded sustainability advocate and pioneer Dee Williams that life is short. So, she sold her sprawling home and built an eighty-four-square-foot house—on her own, from the ground up. Today, Williams can list everything she owns on one sheet of paper, her monthly housekeeping bills amount to about eight dollars, and it takes her about ten minutes to clean the entire house. Adapting a new lifestyle left her with the ultimate luxury—more time to spend with friends and familyand gave her the freedom to head out for adventure at a moment’s notice, or watch the clouds and sunset while drinking a beer on her (yes, tiny) front porch.

  • Published: 24 June 2015
  • ISBN: 9780142181799
  • Imprint: Plume
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $32.99

Praise for The Big Tiny

"Williams has built an engaging and inspiring how-to/memoir that goes beyond the DIY perspective."
--Booklist

"The Big Tiny will find sympathy with readers frustrated with the conventional rat race."--Kirkus

"In The Big Tiny, Dee Williams creates a portrait of humanity through her own compelling experience. That she has written about home and life with such humor and vulnerability, and in her own unique vernacular, makes her story all the more universal."--Jay Shafer, author of The Small House Book

"The Big Tiny is irresistible. Dee Williams is as much fun on the page as she is in person. Comic, silly, and soulful, she takes us on her journey to simplify her life and along the way tunes in to our own inner desire to pare down to our nearly naked selves."--Jim Lynch, author of The Highest Tide and Truth Like the Sun

"The Big Tiny is a beautifully written narrative, one that goes beyond happiness and living simply. The power of Dee's words will touch your heart, make you laugh, cry, and change your life."--Tammy Strobel, author of You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap)

"The Big Tiny is comedic, eloquent, and damn informative all at the same time. If Dee Williams' story hasn't inspired you to reevaluate your life already, this book just may be the swift kick in the pants you need--the final awakening blow all rolled into one biblio-burrito of bad-assness."--Derek "Deek" Diedricksen, HGTV host and honcho of Relaxshacks.com

"Dee Williams aims for happiness 85 percent of the time, but I think you'll be 100 percent happy with the wisdom she shares in this beautiful book."--Chris Guillebeau, author of The $100 Startup