This book's about Eustace Conway, a man who has lived "off the land" since 1977--since he was 17. He kills and prepares his own food, makes his own clothing from the skins of the animals he's eaten, lives in a teepee on his own nature reserve and pretty much knows everything about survival.
General rating: 2 out of 4. The bad language really bothered me. Not worth reading.
1. Was it plausible? Of course. This is a biography of sorts. Eustace Conway isn't dead, though, he's still alive and "roughing it" in
2. Was it thought provoking? Yes, at first. It made me think about my own life and how caught up I am in modern living. I don't think I'd survive very comfortably (if at all) if I were plunked down on a piece of property and told to make my own way. However, this book was really TMI for me. At the beginning of the book I admired Eustace and his way of life, but by the end I felt frustrated by his lack of sympathy for any view but his own. His biographer, Elizabeth Gilbert, obviously admired him, but by the end of the book she had undercut most of Conway's admirablility (is that a word?) by her stark portrayal of his difficulty getting along with the people who are closest to him. I'd have enjoyed the book more had it told more about what makes him special--his abilities in the outdoors--rather than so much about his personality.
3. Was it engaging? At first. I read the first half pretty much non-stop, but then I put the book down for a few weeks and I ended up forcing myself to come back to it in order to finish. I actually was not interested in reading any more of the book, but I'm a "finisher" generally... so I finished it. I skimmed through quite a bit on the last half.
4. Was it uplifting? No. As I mentioned before, I went from feeling kind of idealistic about nature and oneness with earth and all that to feeling kind of irritated by Eustace Conway... from "Wow! This guy is a visionary!" to "Wow. This guy's messed up." Not particularly inspiring or uplifting.
Language: Plenty of profanity and obscenities scattered throughout, another reason I had trouble making it through the book. I just didn't expect a serious biographer to include so much bad language. To me, bad language screams "unevolved adult"! People of words use the intelligent ones, not the 4-letter ones.
Sex: Plenty of references to Eustace's love life. What does this have to do with outdoor survival? I'm not sure, unless it's having to do with survival of the species and Eustace's encounters didn't lead to any of that.
My recommendation: Skip it. There's nothing memorable or useful about this chronicle of the life of Eustace Conway. Good luck to the guy himself, though! I like his ideals.
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