THRILLER

Better Off

Eric Brende, 43, has been exploring life "off the grid" since 1992, when, as an MIT grad student studying technology and society, he moved to an Amish-like community with his bride and lived for 18 months on a farm with kerosene lamps and horse-drawn plow. In Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology, he chronicles their experiments in low-tech living.

WHY PULL THE PLUG? I'm not trying to make the case that technology is evil; I wanted to ascertain how much—or how little—is needed. Devices like cars, TVs and computers take away something we need—exercise, social interaction, mental challenge—and give us something we don't, like the cost of maintenance and fuel.

WHAT DID YOUR WIFE THINK? At first, Mary [a former accountant, now a stay-at-home mom] was negative: I was proposing working a farm with our bare hands. But it brought us much closer.

WHAT DID YOU MISS WHEN YOU WENT COLD TURKEY? A refrigerator. Handy for keeping leftovers when it's 90°.

HOW DOES YOUR'FAMILY LIVE NOW? My emphasis is to minimize the automated devices, which leaves us with things that don't interfere that much. In our home in St. Louis we have electricity, partly because houses today are designed for electrical lights. We have a half-size refrigerator. And a gas range. A 1983 Honda Accord that we use when we can't walk or bike. We have a phone and a radio, but not a TV, computer or DVD player. We use kerosene lights at night after our three kids go to bed and we want to read or play backgammon. And we home-school our children.

DO THE KIDS COMPLAIN ABOUT BEING DIFFERENT? Occasionally. But Hans [11], Anna [8] and Evan [6] are so much happier because they can entertain themselves. They're constantly creating forts and playing dress-up.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT YOURSELF? I drive a pedal-powered rickshaw taxi downtown and I have a soap-making business. And I'm a musician, so I play an occasional gig.