The 100 Thing Challenge: How I Got Rid of Almost Everything, Remade My Life, and Regained My Soul

by Dave Bruno

Overview

“Reading this will lead you to a better life.”
—Dean Nelson, author of God Hides in Plain Sight

 

In The 100 Thing Challenge Dave Bruno relates how he remade his life and regained his soul by getting rid of almost everything. But The 100 Thing Challenge is more than just the story of how one man started a movement to unhook himself from consumerism by winnowing his life’s possessions down to 100 things in one year. It’s also an inspiring, invigorating guide to how we all can begin to live simpler, more meaningful lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061787744
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/28/2010
Pages:	207
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Dave Bruno is a successful entrepreneur who cofounded ChristianAudio and helped it become a leading publisher of audiobooks. He has an M.A. in Religion in American Life from Wheaton College. Dave is a native of San Diego, where he lives with his wife and three daughters. He loves every outdoor inch of California that he's ever hiked, biked, surfed, or seen. Dave's favorite of many household pets is his loyal mutt, Piper.

Table of Contents

Preface: Of Cats and Contentment xi

Part 1 The Challenge Takes Shape

1 The 100 Thing Challenge 3

2 A Reluctant Entrepreneur 13

3 "American-Style Consumerism" Got My Attention 25

4 Every Challenge Needs Rules 39

5 Personal Change Begins at Home 49

6 Purging Things and "Things Past" 61

7 The Hardest Thing to Cut 75

Part 2 The Challenge Takes Off

8 My 100 Thing Challenge Begins 89

The 100 Thing Challenge List 101

9 Imprecise Goods 103

A Challenge Christmas 111

10 Naturally, Our Stuff Goes Only So Far 115

A Winter Update 129

11 Reactions to the Spectacle 133

A New Frugality 147

12 The Short Answer to the Big Question 151

The 88 Thing Challenge 161

13 My Almost Perfect Wednesday 163

My 10 Thing Hobby 171

14 A Modest Proposal for the One Thing We Should All Keep 175

Epilogue: Keep Going 185

Appendix 1 How to Do a 100 Thing Challenge 189

Appendix 2 Post-Challenge Things 199

Acknowledgments 208

What People are Saying About This

Dean Nelson

“In a loving, wise, sometimes hilarious manner, Dave Bruno holds a mirror up to us and says to take a closer look at how we’re living. Reading this will lead you to a better life.”

Mark Noll

“Living simply is only an ideal until someone like Bruno gets particular. The way he got particular should make everyone think—hard, which is a very good thing.”

Editorial Reviews

Living simply is only an ideal until someone like Bruno gets particular. The way he got particular should make everyone think—hard, which is a very good thing.” — Mark Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

“In a loving, wise, sometimes hilarious manner, Dave Bruno holds a mirror up to us and says to take a closer look at how we’re living. Reading this will lead you to a better life.” — Dean Nelson, Author of God Hides in Plain Sight and director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University

“[Bruno’s] musings about his slow and steady purge have developed a cult following online, inspiring others [toward] clutter-free living.” — Time magazine

From the Publisher

In a loving, wise, sometimes hilarious manner, Dave Bruno holds a mirror up to us and says to take a closer look at how we’re living. Reading this will lead you to a better life.

Dean Nelson

Living simply is only an ideal until someone like Bruno gets particular. The way he got particular should make everyone think—hard, which is a very good thing.

Mark Noll

[Bruno’s] musings about his slow and steady purge have developed a cult following online, inspiring others [toward] clutter-free living.

Time magazine

"[Bruno’s] musings about his slow and steady purge have developed a cult following online, inspiring others [toward] clutter-free living."

Time Magazine