In Praise of Slow by Carl Honoré               Knopf Canada 2004; Harper Collins in the U.S. Carl Honoré is a Canadian journalist living in England who has written a terrific book about slowing down our frenetic lives. The subtitle is “How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed” The book is an international bestseller. Honoré begins with a story about seeing an ad for a book called “The One Minute Bedtime Story”. He thought it would be a great time saver for the nightly bedtime routine with his two year old son. “My first reflex was to shout Eureka!” This was followed by a moment of clarity: “Have I gone completely insane?” That was the inspiration for writing a book about slowing down. In contrast to what American physician, Larry Dossey, termed “time-sickness”, an idea germinated in the small Italian city of Bra in 1999. Called the slow food movement, it was a response to the fast food industry. The slow food concept had to do with not only how fast food is eaten but the speed at which it is prepared and even how food is raised and grown. The idea then expanded to the slow city movement, also in Italy, known as Citta Slow. It extolled the virtues of small neighborhoods, people walking rather than driving cars, folks dropping into small shops rather than large chain stores, taking time to chat with neighbors and visitors. Its premise is that a slower pace increases the quality of people’s lives. There’s a chapter on the mind-body connection and how we can learn to slow down not only our frenetic activity but also our minds. Benefits of slower thinking include improved problem solving, creativity and innovation. Another chapter talks about medical practice and how patients are seeking alternatives to mainstream medicine where they feel whisked in and out. The growing backlash against “fast medicine” led patients to explore options which draw on unhurried holistic healing traditions. He notes that, in Britain, complimentary practitioners now outnumber GPs. There’s a fascinating chapter about the slow sex movement and how our hurry-up culture has even spread to the bedroom where “the quickie” and the rush to the finish line have replaced real touching and connection between couples. The subtitle is “A Lover with a Slow Hand”. There are chapters on slowing down at work (he cites studies that show an increase in productivity when people slow down and take breaks), on leisure, and an excellent chapter on “raising an unhurried child”. As Honoré says, “The slow movement is not about turning the whole planet into a Mediterraneum holiday resort. Speed can be fun, productive and powerful. What the world needs and what the slow movement offers is a middle path, a recipe for marrying La Dolce Vita with the dynamism of the information age. The secret is balance; instead of doing everything faster, do everything at the right speed. Sometimes fast. Sometimes slow. Sometimes somewhere in between.” The book is written in a conversational style with many interesting stories. He even tells of the time he got a speeding ticket – while on his way to a four-hour “slow food” dinner! It’s an important book and a great read. I enjoyed it thoroughly and highly recommend it.