Product DescriptionIn this rousing examination of contemporary American male identity, acclaimed author and journalist Elizabeth Gilbert explores the fascinating true story of Eustace Conway. In 1977, at the age of seventeen, Conway left his family's comfortable suburban home to move to the Appalachian Mountains. For more than two decades he has lived there, making fire with sticks, wearing skins from animals he has trapped, and trying to convince Americans to give up their materialistic lifestyles and return with him back to nature. To Gilbert, Conway's mythical character challenges all our assumptions about what it is to be a modern man in America; he is a symbol of much we feel how our men should be, but rarely are.
What Others Say
An amazing life!
Eliz Gilbert does a nice job telling the story of Eustace Conway.What drive!Wears me out, but excites me at the same time. What a shame that the drive he inherited from his Dad prevented him from nurturing a full life relation with someone who could become his wife. He met some women who sounded perfect for him, but he simply couldn't relax enough to enjoy them and the life they could have given him.My hat is off to him for giving back to nature(in his teachings) what nature gave to him. I believe that he had an impractical goal( hoping that grand segments of the American public would convert to nature),but he sure gave it 150% so I hope he feels gratified for the work he has done. It was a wonderful and inspiring story, and I highly recommend ... Read More
Thought Provoking
The Last American Man really made me think. It wasn't the best written book. I liked her other book, Eat Pray Love better, however even though I'm not thrilled with her style of writing I love the content she presents and what she writes about. The Last American Man has seriously made me look at the purpose and quality of my own life and the changes I want to make.
A different kind of biography
This is the biography of a man who has spent his whole life in the woods, living off the land. The difference between him and the many others who live off the land? He has flourished. Plus, he does it partially to convince others to give up the trap of luxury and return to a simple nature-centric lifestyle. The author gives us a solid background then weaves interesting tales about the "last american man" and how hardworking and different he is compared to an average man. A well-written book that drags a little in the end reiterating the same dogma that keeping up with the joneses is futile. However Elizabeth Gilbert hadn't quite polished off her writing style as she does in Eat, Pray, Love. A worthy read for anyone disinterested in suburban sprawl ... Read More
Reluctant Disciple
I enjoyed reading The Last American Man and I have often dreamed of living the type of lifestyle that Eustace Conway lives, though not quite so harsh. It seems to me that his many hang-ups have created a personal "river" that no one is able to cross and join him. He seems to be a carbon copy of his father, with just enough minor differences to convince himself that he is nothing like him. Sadly, he has decided to turn away from the only source that could give him true happiness, a relationship with Jesus Christ. I think the old saying, "no one is as blind as he who refuses to see" fits Eustace well. His desire for acceptance from his father has blinded him to the joys of life. The disatisfaction that his apprentises experience and which Eustace cannot understand ... Read More
Very interesting! Wonderfully written!
I really enjoyed The Last American Man. It gave an unbiased account of a man, who even in his best intentions, falls short of what he wants to be. Contrary to some of the negative reviews, Gilbert DOES see all that is not right about this man, and she tells us about it.
The Last American Man is a journey through the mind and heart of a troubled man and those people who were raptured by his personality and then inevitably disappointed. I loved it!
