The Last American Man

I didn't know it was still possible to live off the land in the old style, but this highly readable biography of Eustace Conway, the buckskin clad, just turning 40, mountain man who devotes his life to persuading others to follow him, is a lesson in itself. If this charismatic, picture perfect frontiersman could not create a movement of followers devoted to returning to the land base, then knowing this has saved me the frustration of thinking people could change significantly enough to help themselves out of current mess we're in.

The real pleasure of reading this book is the skill with which Elizabeth Gilbert renders her subject with an eye that is both awed by him and onto him. She starts by showing him giving his mesmerizing talks at schools and chatting up anyone willing to listen, then deeply explores his telling relationship with his exacting and authoritarian father. The largely self-taught journey that Eustace takes to learn to live off the land is an incredible story in itself, but it goes on to include his vision to buy an entire valley in the forests of North Carolina where he can operate a wilderness camp. That he turns out to be a tyrant and a perfectionist is not at all surprising given his unrelenting drive.

Elizabeth also gives the story just enough context, in reviewing the history of similarly visioned men and the idea of the frontiersman as the American ideal. A useful insight into a part of American culture. And as a woman, she puts Eustace in his place when it comes to his naive and immature ideas of female companionship.

In the end, what Eustace discovers about the deterioration of skills within the American culture confirms my own suspicions. He comments that children today don't know basic physical laws of nature—leverage, inertia, momentum and thermodynamics. This means they have trouble using tools, doing chores efficiently or solving physical problems. They are also incredibly spoiled— as confirmed by the author—used to being asked what they want for very little in return. Those that show up at the camp to intern with Eustace seem particularly lost, lacking emotional resilience or ability to govern themselves. There are stunning exceptions that prove the rule, but the lesson here is that we as a culture have lost so much already.
My thanks to coalandice for recommending this book. www.wnyc.org/books/3438