Honoré, Carl 1967-

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HONORÉ, Carl 1967-

PERSONAL: Born 1967, in Scotland; married Miranda France; children: two. Education: Attended Edinburgh University.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Patrick Walsh, Conville and Walsh, 2 Ganton St., Soho, London W1F 7QL, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Freelance journalist, working in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1991-93, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1993-96; Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, London correspondent, 1996-98; National Post, Canada, London correspondent, 1998-2001. Worked with street children in Brazil in 1990.

WRITINGS:

In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement IsChallenging the Cult of Speed, HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, CA), 2004.

Contributor of articles to magazines and newspapers, including the Economist, Observer, Miami Herald, Globe and Mail, Scotland on Sunday, Houston Chronicle, Time, Newsday, and Canada National Post.

Author's work has been published in fifteen foreign languages, including German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese.

ADAPTATIONS: The television rights for In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed have been purchased by a British production company.

SIDELIGHTS: Journalist Carl Honoré had an epiphany in an airport while reading a newspaper article about condensed, one-minute bedtime stories for children. It dawned on him that looking to streamline his experience reading stories to his son at night was a sure sign that something was wrong. A self-described "speedaholic," as noted by Joseph Contreras in Newsweek, Honoré began thinking that he and many other people in the world have become too obsessed with doing everything quickly and cramming in as much as they can in the course of day. As a result, he began to research today's fast-paced lifestyle and seek out alternatives to society's growing obsession with speed. The result is his book In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed.

In his book, Honoré delves into the history of humankind's relationship with time and its increasing need to do everything in a rush, pointing out that the emphasis on speed is not just a phenomenon of modern times. Much of the book focuses on what Honoré sees as a modern "Slow Revolution" against a high-speed life and describes how this backlash against emphasizing speed in almost all aspects of our lives is making itself felt throughout society, from offices and factories to neighborhoods, kitchens, bedrooms, and schools. In describing this revolution, Honoré discusses in detail various efforts to counteract today's hectic lifestyle, including organizations such as the Society for the Deceleration of Time and the Slow Food and Slow Sex movements. For example, there is even a Slow Cities movement that started in Italy but has now spread across Europe that, as described by Los Angeles Times contributor Merle Rubin, "encourages cities to reduce noise, pollution and traffic; increase green spaces, foster local farmers and artisans; and adopt other measures designed to decrease the stress of urban life, making it more leisurely and satisfying." In an interview with Joshua Glenn for the Boston Globe, Honoré discussed his view of the importance of slowing down. "It's well-documented that the roadrunner approach to life, where you're always switched on and multitasking, takes a toll on our physical and mental health," said Honoré. "But what's worse is that it squeezes the pleasure out of existence."

Writing in the National Catholic Reporter, Jeannette Cooperman praised Honoré for "couching his research in such lucid prose that you read faster and faster, eager to reach the next point of agreement, zooming along from insight to insight until—wham! You see the trap too late!" Cooperman also called the book's historical perspective about time and speed "one of the book's most startling gifts." An Economist contributor called In Praise of Slowness "entertaining" and added that it was "a friendly and intelligent guide for harried types looking to change gears at home, work or play." The reviewer also noted that occasionally the author "slips into the earnest, empowering tone found in self-help manuals, but he quickly recovers his journalistic voice with a light mix of well-researched historic trivia and contemporary statistics." In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Rubin commented, "His book makes a persuasive case against mindless speed and offers an intriguing array of concrete suggestions about ways to 'to make the moment last.'"

Honoré told CA: "My parents taught me to love words, but the idea that writing could, or even should, make people see the world differently came to me when I lived for a short time in Brazil as a teenager. I wanted everyone to know about the suffering and injustice that was endemic in the country. I guess I wanted to save the world with my pen."

"I work a regular day, from about 9:30 am till 6:30 pm. I eat lunch downstairs with my wife, and take short breaks to meditate or just sit quietly in a room away from the phones, e-mail and computer. I seldom write on the weekends but the work is usually bubbling away in the back of my mind. The hardest part of writing for me is getting the first sentence right. Once that is in place, everything else seems to flow."

"The most surprising thing I have learned from being a writer is that less is so often more, and that words can be immensely powerful. Ultimately in my writing, I want to make people laugh and reflect."