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nectar_syrup 's review for:

The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert
4.0

A biography of Eustace Conway, who lives a pre-industrial existence on a nature preserve in North Carolina. This book is a quick read and is full of interesting stories about him hunting with his bare hands, riding horses across the country, and evangelizing for a more natural existence in a society increasingly detached from it.

Conway seems like a real asshole, puffed-up with ridiculous notions of man-hood and independence, but certainly is an entertaining figure who really believes in what he does. Gilbert presents a nuanced picture that is quite affectionate but lays clear the fundamental flaws in this ideal of an 'American man,' even if she doesn't realize it. I'll shed a tear when they knock down the last old-growth tree but not for the men who were so fond of them.