The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert

Before reading this book I was told by a few people that it was similar to Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Even a quote on the cover compares the two. Though there are some similarities between the two, like finding peace within nature, Chris McCandless and Eustace Conway “the last American man”, are really different people, with very different stories. I’ll start out by saying that I loved this book. Not only is Eustace Conway a very intriguing person with many thrilling life stories, but the storytelling and the writing done by Elizabeth Gilbert is wonderful. Gilbert has not always known Eustace Conway. She had heard stories about him and wanted to do a piece on him for a magazine. That is how she first met him. Now through the years she has gotten to know him as a friend, and because of that relationship the writing feels very intimate. Even though she is friends with him, she does not write about Eustace through rose-colored glasses, which is how many people view him, even myself at first. The readers get to know Eustace as whole human being…the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful.

Eustace is an extremely intelligent, imaginative, ambitious, and resourceful man. This is a person who sincerely loves this earth and everything about nature. He can truly live and survive off the land with no help from conventional items. He lives within the natural cycles of the earth and wants to teach others to do so as well. Teaching others to live within nature is what he considers his own personal destiny.

From a very young age Eustace had a connection with nature and understood it like few do. At seventeen Eustace left his home to live in the woods and has done so every since. There are many incredible stories about his adventures and amazing feats. Some of which include crossing the Appalachian Mountains with hardly more than a knife with him and riding across the country on horseback. However, this book goes further than that into the journey of his life. This man has his flaws. His struggles. Like we all do. This is a person who, like many others, grew up in a “dysfunctional” family and bears the affects of it. This is a person who so badly wants to teach others, yet has very high expectations, and a hard time of really being able to communicate with them. He is narcissistic and attentive at the same time. I’ve never met or read about someone so dedicated to his or her dream. He has almost burned himself out trying to get others to see what he sees, live how he lives. Not in a commanding way, but because people have asked him to, people have wanted to live how he lives.

It is worthwhile to take the time to read this book, to discover the story of Eustace Conway. His development as a person, the remarkable exploits he endeavors, and his life’s lessons. Lessons that we all can learn from.