The Last American Man

Gilbert, Elizabeth. The Last American Man. London: Penguin. 2002. Print.

First Sentences:

By the time Eustace Conway was seven years old, he could throw a knife accurately enough to nail a chipmunk to a tree.

By the time he was ten, he could hit a running squirrel at fifty feet with a bow and arrow. When he turned twelve, he went out into the woods, alone and empty-handed, built himself a shelter, and survived off the land for a week.

Description:

Some people harbor dreams of forsaking civilization, disappearing into some isolated forest and living off the land peacefully in harmony with nature. Of course, none of us could survive more that a few miserable days, but what if ....

Elizabeth Gilbert depicts such a man in her strongly-written biography of Eustace Conway, The Last American Man. 

For years, Eustace had escaped his father's badgering and humiliations by spending time in a local American Indian museum, learning the Indian philosophy and their skills of living in nature. He gradually acquired the abilities to live independent of civilization and, when he reached 17, tooks off from his home with his homemade teepee and motorcycle to find his perfect land in the woods of North Carolina to make a home in nature.

Eventually he purchased acres of isolated lands and built Turtle Island, his refuge which could preserve of enough natural forest for him to live freely with animals, water, and trees in his own way without roads, electricity, or contact with the outside world. Supporting himself by giving demonstrations and talks to schools and organizations, everything seemed perfect in his chosen life.

But not all was easy. He was determined to spread his philosophy that anyone can live in nature, and should. To that end, Eustace opened Turtle Island to campers seeking his knowledge of survival skills. What they found were hours of digging post holes, eating meager meals from whatever Eustace can scrounge (including roadkill and dumpster diving), and whatever other work Eustace felt was needed to keep Turtle Island running. Few campers were happy with these arrangements and many left early.

And then there was his strong desire to start a family and his plan to find the perfect woman. Not all went well in this area as might be expected, as potential girlfriends were left to mind the teepee and campers to Eustace's exacting standards while he traveled the country giving demonstrations and preaching his back-to-nature philosophy.

But what an interesting man he is, and what a life he carved out for himself. The book is filled with story after incredible story of incidents in his life of interacting with nature, including raising a hundred turtles in his childhood backyard, riding horses across the United States, and through-hiking the Appalachian Trail without packing any food and surviving on what he could hunt or scrounge. Throughout the book he is always carefully plotting the perfect existence and spreading his enthusiasm to kids and adults alike.

Wonderful reading about a complex man who defines and then carves out his ideal life.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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