The Last American Man
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.76 (606 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B000MG1Z9C |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 288 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-05-25 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
What does it mean to be a man in modern America? Do men somehow better themselves when they leave civilization and head into the woods? The Last American Man is a cultural examination of contemporary American male identity and the uniquely American desire to return to the wilderness.From the frontier West to American utopian communities, Elizabeth Gilbert has produced a history of American manhood as it has never been told before. It is also a reflection of masculine American identity in all its conflicting elements—energy, isolation, narcissism, inventiveness, audacity, and destiny.. Conway has worked tirelessly to try to convince his fellow Americans to give up self-destructive modern lifestyles and return with him to the primal sanctuary of the wilderness. He is a living metaphor that challenges all assumptions about what it is to be a modern man in America.The Last American Man is at the same time an adventure saga and a thoughtful meditation on the relationship of man to the wilderness. To illustrate her story, Gilbert uses the rich and fascinating case study of Eustace Conway, a man who has lived in the Appalachian Mountains since the age of 17
Read and learn, and laugh and weep! Extremely compelling! So many could benefit from this book on so many levels. Raised in rural Oregon on 82 acres along a river in a log cabin Dad built and I still learned SO MUCH reading this book! And, not just survival or hard skills, but the subtle ones from nature, as well. And, then the most important skills: knowing yourself and relating positively and compassionately to others.. Soaring Spirit said Elizabeth Gilbert is an excellent writer. She is highly imaginative and I have. Elizabeth Gilbert is an excellent writer. She is highly imaginative and I have liked every one of her books including this one. Kudos to her for the idea of putting this man's life in print. I highly recommend it.. If you think you know the man on TV, read the book K. Meyers I was interested in Eustace. He is an interesting man.The book has a lot of unnecessary fluff but I enjoyed reading about this amazing man. I had no idea just how educated he was or how bull headed.
Gilbert has a jaunty, breathless style, and she paints a complicated portrait of American maleness that is as original as it is surprising. He is, as Gilbert (Stern Men) implies with her literary and historical references, a cross between Davy Crockett and Henry David Thoreau. . At times, Conway's story can be wonderfully moving (as when he buries kindergartners in a shallow trench with their faces turned skyward to help them understand that the forest floor is "alive") or disconcerting (as when, in 1995, he's uncertain about Bill Clinton's identity). Gilbert, who is friends with Conway and interviewed his family, evidences enormous enthusiasm for her subject, whether discussing Conway's need for alcohol to calm down; his relationship with a physically and emotionally abusive father; or his horrific hand-to-antler fight with a deer buck he was trying to kill yet she always keeps her reporter's distance. At 17, Conway "headed into the mountains and dressed in the