Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus (aka The Minimalists) Book Talk and Signing

Meet Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, also known as The Minimalists. The Minimalists write about living a meaningful life with less stuff for 2 million readers.

They will be discussing their new book, Everything That Remains (Asymmetrical Press, paperback, $12.00), at Fiction Addiction on May 15th, at 7:00 pm. This event is free and open to the public, but RSVPs through this link are requested.

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 then, 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.

In the authors’ own words:

It all started with a lingering discontent in our lives. A few years ago, as we approached age 30, we had achieved everything that was supposed to make us happy: we had great six-figure jobs, nice cars, big houses with more bedrooms than inhabitants, pointless masses of toys, and scads of superfluous stuff.

And yet with all that stuff, we weren’t satisfied with our lives. We weren’t happy. There was a gaping void. We discovered that working 70-80 hours a week for a corporation and buying even more stuff didn’t fill the void. In fact, it only brought us more debt and stress and anxiety and fear and loneliness and guilt and overwhelm and depression.

What’s worse, we found out we didn’t have control of our time and thus didn’t control our own lives. So in 2010 we took back control using the principles of minimalism to focus on what’s important.

In 2011, we left our corporate careers age 30 to become full-time authors and speakers. After publishing seven books, several of which were #1 bestsellers, we embarked on an international book tour and eventually began contributing to people through our online writing classes and private mentoring sessions. The topics about which we write and speak cover a wide array, from simple living and pursuing your passion, to writing, publishing, entrepreneurship health, relationships, personal growth, and contribution.

Toward the end of 2012, we moved from our hometown, Dayton, Ohio, to a cabin in Montana as a four-month experiment, followed by a move to beautiful Missoula in 2013, where we co-founded Assymetrical Press, a publishing house for the indie at heart.

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus have garnered an audience of more than 2 million readers at TheMinimalists.com, where they write about living a meaningful life with less stuff. They are the bestselling authors of five books and have spoken at Harvard Business School, SXSW, World Domination Summit, TEDx, and many other organizations, schools, and conferences. They write and speak about a wide array of topics, from simple living and pursuing your passion, to health, relationships, writing, publishing, social media, personal growth, and contribution.

Joshua and Ryan left their six-figure corporate careers at age 30 and went on to become well-known authors and speakers. The Minimalists has been featured on CBS This Morning, ABC, NBC, FOX, NPR, CBC Radio, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Elle Canada, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Austin American-Statesman, Seattle Times,Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, Vancouver Sun, National Post, LA Weekly, Zen Habits, and various other outlets.

Both born in 1981, they live in Missoula, Montana, by way of Dayton, Ohio.