This book on "interior housekeeping" illuminates the true measure of a life lived in terms of usefulness and integrity rather than accomplishment or possessions. With subtle wit, wonderfully evocative language, and clear-eyed wisdom gleaned from her own experience, Toinette Lippe teaches us how to discern what is essential and let go of what is not.

Toinette Lippe had a long and distinguished career at Alfred A. Knopf. In 1989, she founded Bell Tower, where she published seventy books that nourished the soul and spoke directly to the heart. After fifty years in publishing, Toinette abandoned editorial work and devotes herself to East Asian brush painting. She lives in New York City.