Everything That Remains: A Memoir by The Minimalists

Joshua Fields Millburn · Ryan Nicodemus

Jan 2014 · Asymmetrical Press

About this ebook

What if everything you ever wanted isn’t what you actually want? Twenty-something, suit-clad, and upwardly mobile, Joshua Fields Millburn thought he had everything anyone could ever want. Until he didn’t anymore.

Blindsided by the loss of his mother and his marriage in the same month, Millburn started questioning every aspect of the life he had built for himself. Then, he accidentally discovered a lifestyle known as minimalism…and everything started to change.

That was four years ago. Since, Millburn, now 32, has embraced simplicity. In the pursuit of looking for something more substantial than compulsory consumption and the broken American Dream, he jettisoned most of his material possessions, paid off loads of crippling debt, and walked away from his six-figure career.

So, when everything was gone, what was left? Not a how-to book but a why-to book, Everything That Remains is the touching, surprising story of what happened when one young man decided to let go of everything and begin living more deliberately. Heartrending, uplifting, and deeply personal, this engrossing memoir is peppered with insightful (and often hilarious) interruptions by Ryan Nicodemus, Millburn’s best friend of twenty years.

Ratings and reviews

Very nice book about living simpler yet living better (IMO). I have similar issues and reading helped to slow down a bit, look around and simplify a few things, and I really start to feel better. Less stressed, the flat is a bit less full, I started to sell my stuff which was bought but not used for years and it feels good that other people will have fun with them. This book really helped me to get my blocked life moving. Thanks! Joshua's writing style was sometimes a bit tooo... picturesque for my taste b

A story that questions what we as human beings really care for; a starter guide to asking what matters, why those things matter, and to re-align values to shape the life we've thus far only been reaching for, yet have been too afraid to grasp, hold, and fight for.

Puts the "consumerist" life into perspective. If you've read some of the essays on their website you'll come across some passages in the book you recognize. Never hurts to reread something more than once. Regardless, Joshua's words and Ryan's footnotes really left an impact on me. Keep it up guys!

About the author

Emmy-nominated Netflix stars and New York Times–bestselling authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, known collectively as The Minimalists, “show their followers how to streamline their lives to find more happiness” (Good Morning America). With the “charm of their buddy-act, The Minimalists have become the minimalist movement’s American ringleaders” (New York Magazine). These “sincere prophets of anti-consumerism” (The New Yorker) have been featured in Time, Architectural Digest, and GQ, and they have spoken at Harvard, Apple, and Google. The Minimalists Podcast, with more than 100 million downloads, is one of the most popular podcasts in the world.