You know, despite the overwhelming feeling that this book is really written for people in careers making well over 50,000 dollars a year and NOT for the working poor (which is essentially what we are), I enjoyed this book and it echoed a LOT of what I’ve been feeling and trying to express over the least two or three years. I got it from the library, it was not actually the book I was looking for, and it was not really what I was expecting, but I enjoyed it non-the-less and think I would like to own my own copy of it! I’m glad I took the time to read it instead of just shooting it back off to the library. ( )

Some of the main point of The Joy of Not Working include:
1. Unemployment is a time to build some real character. Being an optimist when economic times are good doesn't count.
2. Getting fired is nature's way to telling you that you had the wrong job in the first place.
3. Like The Bible, The Joy of Not Working ( by Ernie Zelinski) tells you everything you need to know to resolve your Life crisis, but doesn't exclude humor in its presentation. Check Chapter 7, "Lighting the Fire Rather than Being Warmed by It", pages 118-120, for a list of 200 activities for your consideration. (This comes from Helga Roberts writing on AuthorsDen.com)
4. Retirement is the beginning of life and not the end.
5. After reading The Joy of Not Working several times, my favorite chapter is Financial Independence on Less than $6,000.

NOTE: Visit one of Ernie Zelinski's Blogs:

Retirement Quotes for Retirement Planning Blog

Ernie Zelinski's Redroom Blog

Ernie Zelinski's Blog on Morgan James Publishing

The Real Success Resource Center Blog

Ernie Zelinski's Blog on Arizona Central

Ernie Zelinski's Blog on USA TODAY ( )

In a word The Joy of Not Working is enjoyable. It is an easy, fun read, and at times it is rather humorous. Some of the tips outlined in the book are very practical. Others however, are not. At the very least, this book offers some good advice on scaling back, and making career and money less intrusive in your life. ( )

Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
An odd mix of amateur psychology and self-help is offered by this engineer happily and creatively unemployed for 14 years. His clear-as-a-bell message is that making the most of leisure involves knowing yourself inside and outside of work. And that, for most overworked and undersatisfied Americans, amounts to an overwhelming task. To some extent, Zelinski tames the process with a combination of humor, cartoons, quotes from the famous (and the not so), fan mail excerpts, and a host of exercises to try. Explored in depth are the nature of boredom (complaining is one sure sign), the value of work, inner passions and goals, and the potential maleficence of money. None of these thoughts are new; Abraham Maslow, for one, advocated the stages toward healthy humanity. Nor are the statistics, remarks, or observations unique. But the notion of how to enjoy free time is finally geared to a mass market. Barbara Jacobs --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

—Boston Herald
"Ernie Zelinski helps others find time to live." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Attention Retirees!, January 15, 2007
Reviewer: Phyllis B. Heaberlin (East Leroy, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I bought this book shortly after I retired from education in 1999, based solely on the title. Having lived several different life styles, the idea of leisure was not too far-fetched. I highlighted and underlined and then forgot about the book, but recently heard about another book by the same author, "Real Success WITHOUT a Read Job", and I just ordered it but haven't read it yet. I know I will agree with the author but will have to figure out how to make it work for me!

Phyllis Heaberlin, retired educator

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Eye opener, November 13, 2006
Reviewer: Romeo Foxtrot (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
I originally bought this book just to get the Super Savings on shipping and needed something to put me over the $25 mark for my order. I got it, put it to the side and forgot about it for a few months. Eventually I realized I was going home and playing video games every day and needed some help on how to improve my liesure time. I was really impressed with this book, and it has changed my thinking that way that Office Space or Fight Club can have an effect on your typical viewpoint. Although repetitive at points, it really drives home the desire to improve the quality of your life based on what you want, not what the world wants you to want.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed and Overworked- 21st Century Edition, November 4, 2006
Reviewer: James E. Radford "Elderhostel traveler" (Templeton, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I have read several books on retirement, and this is by far the best. It helps you lay out a realistic road map of activities for your retirement years.

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14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
I would have preferred giving 3.5 stars..., June 19, 2006
Reviewer: Sun'n'Fun (Florida) - See all my reviews
Since there's no option to give half stars, I opted to give Ernie the benefit of the doubt and go up one star.

The book is on the concepts behind enjoying leisure, not a step-by-step how-to guide. Understanding this will keep the reader from disappointment. Ernie throws the "work" of learning to enjoy your own leisure back on you, and you must discover your own path.

I found at least 4 chapters very difficult to read in that they were simply a little tedious. Perhaps these were areas that personally did not challenge me or I had already conquered; I do not know, but there were times when it was a struggle to pick up the book.

Other times, however, I found the subject matter very hard to put down. The most unique chapter, after reading similar books, seems to be learning to live in the "now" as one did as a child. Enjoying the moment without dwelling on the past or worrying about the future seems to be the best lesson in the entire book on how to find joy in leisure.

For those who seek a step-by-step how-to achieve financial independence, including planning for ridiculously high medical costs, in order to responsibly live the "life of Riley" that Mr. Zelinski proports, try reading "Your Money or Your Life" by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez.

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
The True Test of Character- Live Free or Die!, June 15, 2006
Reviewer: OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
The essence of this book is attitude adjustment. Most people tune out when they hear "attitude adjustment" because of the way that it usually misused in North American society. It is usually misused by managers that want you to accept a rotten situation and "adjust" to being an obedient and cheerful slave. When Zelinski uses it, he means that you need to realise that the situation is rotten and that you need to free your mind- and realise that there are options and you don't have to be a slave. It is all about realising that wage slavery isn't the norm, nor the only option. In fact, I realised that I probably would go farther than the author when it comes to taking chances. He states that short of certain death you should take the leap- I have come to believe that you cannot even take death into account. You need to say, live or die, I'm going to live free.

I also found it reassuring in the way that it is pointed out that classical Greeks such as Plato and Aristotle would be horrified by what we consider "normal" work. They would have considered it slavery and beneath the dignity of free men. The Greeks lived for leisure. Our puritan work ethic is abnormal, unhealthy, and historically anomalous. There is nothing sadder than a person who enslaves himself due to conditioning by a socialisation process designed to profit others. You don't even need to pay an "overseer" for this kind of slave- he carries one in his head that tells him that he is worthless if he isn't working and making money.

This is a book that will help to break your mind free. You will begin to see that "leisure" isn't a dirty word- and it isn't the same as idleness. It is a matter of taking control of your own life and living for what you truly need to be doing. Of course, first you need to "know thyself", but the classical Greeks would have understood that, also.

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Good on yer, Ernie!, April 20, 2006
Reviewer: Mr. William B. Wheaton (Queensland, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Some books you lend to others;this one you don't. Keep it on your shelf as a ready antidote to what many of us chose as a normal lifestyle. Too much work, too much TV, too little exercise, too much junk. About 25 years ago, physical education students in an Australian university were warned to prepare for the future when people would have almost too much leisure time. Oops, what happened? Consumerism and "habitually striving for more and bigger stuff". On average, our standard of living is triple that of 1950 ... are we happy yet?
This is a positive,inspiring book - sort of like an old friend that you can call at any time for a chat. You hang up the phone feeling recharged and reassured that you are on the right track.
The title is perhaps a little restricting as the book is also very useful for those not quite ready to give up working. It gives a healthy perspective and reminds us that we are not defined by the work we do and that, in the big picture, we are not indepensible at work (but hopefully at home with our family).
The Joy of Not Working is thought-provoking and friendly. It includes a storehouse of relevant quotations and you can just read a few pages at a time (handy if you work long hours!).
Go on, take a risk and buy the book. Out of the hundreds of ideas in it there are sure to be a few that you can incorporate in your life's journey.
As we say in Australia "Have a bludge"!

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
If you want to get out of the rat race, read this book first!..., February 26, 2006
Reviewer: Lee Say Keng "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURER/TECHNOLOGY EXPLORER" (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I bought the first edition of this book just about the time I decided to quit the corporate rat race in the very early 90's. I was then forty three years old. Since then, I have found it - in fact, I have reread it several times - to be a very provocative, entertaining, down-to-earth, and tremendously inspiring book. It also strikes a common chord with me: Like the author, I was trained as an engineer. I simply love the author's personal philosophy as expressed in his wonderful book: We work so hard - and over-value work so much - that we have forgotten how to just live! Life is short! - go and enjoy it all!

I highly recommend this book to all corporate rats who are longing or aspiring to pursue their dreams, to work more productively (by working less), to be financially independent (with less money), embrace enjoyable leisure and pursue "creative unemployment."

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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
My new found Bible..., November 11, 2005
Reviewer: windglider (US) - See all my reviews
After coming to the US fifteen years ago I moved up from maintenance worker at a golf course with $5/h rate to a senior programmer analyst at Wall Street company with six-digit salary. And at some point I've realized that I am not happy and I need to do something about it. It took me about two years to come to some interesting discoveries about life, job and happiness. I finally found possible solution to get out from this 'tunnel without cheese'. And when I was finally ready to make this big change in my life, I found this book. I wish I would found it two years ago. It has confirmed all my ideas and proved that I am not crazy (like some of my friends started to think). Do not expect to find in this book detailed information about how you can be happy, but it will give you the idea that it is possible. And when you feel that you are loosing the faith on the long road to happiness - just open the book again.

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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
A Fun, Inspiring Read, October 12, 2005
Reviewer: E. Haines (CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I discovered this book at a very low point in my career and after reading it, I was inspired to stop stressing out in my workplace and to place more focus on what makes me happy in life. By no means can everyone just pick up and quit their current careers or go into semi-retirement but that is not the intention of this book. Mr. Zelinski's message is to enjoy your life more. Whether in your job, unemployment, home life, or leisure time. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
A brief comment, August 8, 2005
Reviewer: magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)
Mr. Zelinsky is an engaging, funny, and persuasive writer on the evils of overwork and being gainfully employed, and the advantages and joys of retirement, but unfortunately, I have to agree with several of the other comments here that he is long on praise and short on practical advice on how to actually do it.

Some of his examples of people who did it are not realistic for most of us (for example, the guy who is biking around foreign countries on $6000 a year). If you have a wife or a family, forget it, $6000 a year isn't going to cut it. And for most of us, cutting back on our work schedule in one's forties or even fifties is a very serious decision. If you end up being fired and unemployed because of that, and later decide that you don't have enough money to retire, you will be faced with getting a job in your 50s after having been unsatisfactorily terminated from your last one because you were following Mr. Zelinsky's appealing but misguided advice. Somehow, I don't think your prospective employers will be impressed if you show them a copy of Mr. Zelinsky's book as justification for your happy but premature departure from the workplace.

This book best serves as a pep talk for those who have the financial wherewithal, creativity, and perhaps intestinal fortitude to go it alone and have probably been thinking about it for some time. For those people, there is some good info and advice here. For that it serves well as an enthusiastic and even exhortatory and inspiring book on taking that great leap into a more joyful but probably financially more modest and downscaled retirement.

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Somewhat amateurish, but it's a fun, easy to read book that will make you rethink your adherence to the work til you drop paradigm ( )