All My Life for Sale

Rating:
Summary: just like loveburger - well done!
Review: a great idea that belongs on your coffee table, this book will make onlookers bellow with wonder; a perfect conversation piece.

i saw freyer on conan o' brian last night and i think that he should have gotten the watson fellowhip from hamilton college. this project is a lot more interesting than those people that get paid $22k that go to uganda to talk to rocks.

Rating:
Summary: what my husband thinks
Review: As a child of a child of the depression and as a school teacher I am very very good at holding on to things. Most of my items come from my saying " I might need this someday" to standing in the middle of a thrift store in Cape Cod in winter whining "I neeeeeeeeed this".

My husband wishes that I be inspired by this book. Although he is already impressed at how many used books I clear out of our apartment on amazon.com "sell yours here".

Rating:
Summary: most entertaining of the genre....
Review: eh? I was immediately attracted to the cover of this book. I know, you can't judge a book by its, etc. Well, let me tell you John Freyer had more stuff than my two slighty-past-teenagers combined. He had stuff you thought you threw away, he had stuff you saw last week at a yard sale, he had stuff you saw at an antiques store. The photos, writing and results are entertaining and indicative of the "one man's trash" theory of stuff in general. I was struck by the kindred spirits John encountered as he made his odyssey to visit his former stuff; all in all, entertaining, thought provoking, and certainly worth a conversation or two. Made me wonder, "what if everyone sold all their stuff at the same time.....?" Picture the postal deliveries, and the friendliness which stuff-swapping could engender. I would have given this 5 stars, really consider it 4.75 rather than 4. Add this book to your stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Who buys from ebay and where do they come from?
Review: Have you ever wondered why would anyone bid and eventually purchase one of the million items advertised on the online auction site eBay? Who are these people and where do the objects eventually wind up?

John D. Freyer decided one day that he had enough of accumulating all kinds of objects and he was going to sell all of his worldly possessions on the Internet.
This required a considerable effort on his part. He wrote a brief description of each object and he photographed them.
While in the process of carrying out these tasks, he began to wonder where these objects originated from and what role did they play in his life.

As he mentions in his book All My Life For Sale, "I also realized that the act of selling these objects would start to change my life in subtle ways. After I sold my toaster, I stopped eating toast."

However, another thought occurred to Freyer, how would the objects affect someone else's life? Furthermore, where were they going to end up?

Consequently, he decided to include a request in the invoice that he sent to the highest bidders asking them to send him an update on the items they purchased.
This all led to his receiving personal photographs, stories and other tidbits pertaining to his once owned possessions.
He was also invited to visit the new owners of the objects.

Seizing this golden opportunity to travel around the US, he informed all of these people that he was going to jump into his car and take them up on their offers. Amazingly he had received more than one hundred invitations.

All My Life For Sale is an engaging memoir of Freyer's experiences that is filled with wit and complimented with beautiful color illustrations.

Perhaps, there is a hidden lesson to be learned from Freyer's adventures, for as he states: "although I hadn't made it to everyone who had invited me to visit, I knew that it was time to stop driving. That it was time to stop looking. I realized that my sale had done far more than just provide me the means and freedom to escape and start over. In fact, I no longer wanted to escape."

Rating:
Summary: A new kind of memoir
Review: I was a participant in John's effort to sell everything he owned (I bought his Jesus night night). Before the book came out, it was hard to see where he was going with this project. But due to my own fascination with other people's possessions (thrift stores, flea markets, etc.), I wanted to see where he would take this. The book is the culmination of a mental, spiritual, and actual road trip to follow the paths his possessions took. It seems to me that, yes, his former possessions do reveal what kind of person he is, but he does not need to own these things to be who he is. This is a memoir formed by a mosaic of these possessions, and what he says about each one. He links each object to a friend, or a member of his family, or a personal experience. It's funny, insightful, and at times poignant. There is an evolution in John's thinking about his project that is evident as he begins to sell things with a more personal meaning. The book is also influenced by the events of September 11, 2001, on which day he was leaving New York to visit more of his stuff. This is a book that began as a web site, and made a successful transition to print, which is a growing trend. So much for the death of the book by Internet!

Rating:
Summary: Makes you want to sell stuff!
Review: John Freyer realized that when he first arrived in Ohio, all he had were the objects in the trunk of his car. He has accumulated much stuff since living there, and now that he's thinking of leaving and heading back to New York City, he wants to reduce his belongings to practically nothing.

From this notion was born the allmylifeforsale plan. John invited over some friends to help him tag his belongings, and then he slowly but systematically sold them on eBay.

All My Life for Sale is the true story of Freyer's quest to get back to the basics. He is quirky and honest in his writing, and the pictures of objects, how he sold each one, and who bought it are eccentrically wonderful. There's a certain inspiration one feels after reading this book-a yearning to put belongings in proper perspective.

The style of the book allows the reader to choose whether to read it cover to cover or to skip around the book. The introduction and conclusion are must-reads, however, since they offer insight into how the project got started and how it ended.

Rating:
Summary: Makes you want to sell stuff!
Review: John Freyer realized that when he first arrived in Ohio, all he had were the objects in the trunk of his car. He has accumulated much stuff since living there, and now that he's thinking of leaving and heading back to New York City, he wants to reduce his belongings to practically nothing.

From this notion was born the allmylifeforsale plan. John invited over some friends to help him tag his belongings, and then he slowly but systematically sold them on eBay.

All My Life for Sale is the true story of Freyer's quest to get back to the basics. He is quirky and honest in his writing, and the pictures of objects, how he sold each one, and who bought it are eccentrically wonderful. There's a certain inspiration one feels after reading this book-a yearning to put belongings in proper perspective.

The style of the book allows the reader to choose whether to read it cover to cover or to skip around the book. The introduction and conclusion are must-reads, however, since they offer insight into how the project got started and how it ended.

Rating:
Summary: Neato!
Review: This is a very strange but very cool book, and I'll bet the same can be said about its author. If you like clever, unusual guys, and clever, unusual projects, buy this book, or buy it for a friend.

I'm thinking that this is just the sort of book my brother would like, and that in the spirit of the author's project maybe I ought to mail him (my brother) my copy. But I don't know that I can bring myself to do it. John Freyer, how did you steel yourself to part with those wool socks?!

Debra Hamel -- book-blog reviews
Author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

Rating:
Summary: An interesting book
Review: When I saw this book in my local bookstore, I knew I must have it. Besides the great pictures of kitsch and retro stuff, I get to read the story and history behind each item that was auctioned off.