WILLIAM POWERS discusses his new book NEW SLOW CITY

New Slow City: Living Simply in the World's Fastest City (New World Library)

Burned-out after years of doing development work around the world, William Powers spent a season in a 12-foot-by-12-foot cabin off the grid in North Carolina, as recounted in his award-winning memoir Twelve by Twelve. Could he live a similarly minimalist life in the heart of New York City? To find out, Powers and his wife jettisoned 80 percent of their stuff, left their 2,000-square-foot Queens townhouse, and moved into a 350-square-foot "micro-apartment" in Greenwich Village. Downshifting to a two-day workweek, Powers explores the viability of Slow Food and Slow Money, technology fasts and urban sanctuaries. Discovering a colorful cast of New Yorkers attempting to resist the culture of Total Work, Powers offers an inspiring exploration for anyone trying to make urban life more people- and planet-friendly.

Today's event is being co-sponsored by Slow Food LA, CRSP Institute for Urban Ecovillages at Los Angeles Eco-Village, Slow Food USA, and World Policy Institute.

Praise for New Slow City

"All of us sense that we could live better, kinder lives. But Bill Powers has the courage to try to change and then -- ever so artfully, without the slightest wag of a finger -- to show us how."-- Colin Beavan, author of No Impact Man 

"The reenchantment of urban life -- so compromised by the accelerated techno-industrial culture -- takes work, and William Powers saves us a lot of time on the learning curve. Hats off, especially to his courage."-- Douglas Tompkins, founder of the North Face clothing company and the Foundation for Deep Ecology 

"In the City That Never Sleeps, in a place whose very definition of success is 'bigger, better, faster, ' Powers attempts to lead a more deliberate life, to paraphrase Thoreau....Will his time spent off the grid in rural North Carolina prepare him for downsizing to a 340-square-foot micro apartment in the heart of Manhattan? With his new bride? Who soon becomes pregnant? Analyzing what it means to 'want what we want, ' Powers turns his ecologically contemplative gaze both inward and outward, to matters both personal and global, to reconnect with those increasingly rare pockets of peace, tranquility, and mindfulness that will allow him to appreciate life at a slower pace and from a simpler vantage point. One need not live in a city to savor Powers' languid, albeit unconventional, advocacy for an unhurried pace."-- Booklist 

"Is it possible to live an earth-friendly and spiritually fulfilling life in the middle of the bustle of a big city? William Powers and his wife are the perfect people to find out. I found that the tales of the remarkable people they meet, the challenges they confront, and the beauty and joy they discover nourished a part of my soul that rarely gets fed. Never preachy, always entertaining, and often wise, this is a splendid book for anyone wanting to bring more heart and joy to urban living."-- John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America 

"New Slow City tells an inspiring story. At the outset, Powers's goal -- to live slowly and mindfully in frantic Manhattan -- seems quixotic in the extreme. But one should never underestimate a determined idealist. This delightfully provocative book will speak to anyone trying to build a balanced life in our crazy world. I first came to know Powers's work because we coincidentally share the same name. Now I read him to question my own assumptions and reimagine how to live."-- William Powers, New York Times-best-selling author of Hamlet's BlackBerry

"An inspirational quest to slow down, simplify, and find serenity in a supercharged city. William Powers discovers the joy in less stuff, less work, and less speed!"-- Francine Jay, author of The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide

"Powers's message, honed through his experiences living in poor countries like Bolivia, shows that we can live simply, sustainably, and happily. And I know it's real because I stayed with him in his tiny place. But Powers also slows down -- at least as important as scaling down -- and learns to savor the little daily miracles of life. This message may be just what you need to change your own life for the better. Don't miss it!"-- John de Graaf, coauthor of the New York Times bestsellerAffluenza and What's the Economy For, Anyway? and executive director of Take Back Your Time 

"Powers places the difficult decisions we face on a daily basis into an equation that should provide us all with an optimistic glimpse of how to slow our lives down. Read New Slow City and watch as its insights pepper your daily decisions while you navigate the folly of the fast life."-- Richard McCarthy, executive director of Slow Food USA 

William Powers has worked for two decades in development aid and conservation in Latin America, Africa, and North America. From 2002 to 2004 he managed the community components of a project in the Bolivian Amazon that won a 2003 prize for environmental innovation from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. His essays and commentaries on global issues have appeared in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune and on NPR’s Fresh Air. Powers has worked at the World Bank and holds international relations degrees from Brown and Georgetown. A third-generation New Yorker, Powers has also spent two decades exploring the American culture of speed and its alternatives in some fifty countries around the world. He has covered the subject in his four books and written about it in the Washington Post and the Atlantic. Powers is a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute and an adjunct faculty member at New York University. His website is www.williampowersbooks.com.