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Shop nowThe Last American Man - Abridged
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Learn moreAn unforgettable look at a truly pioneering, but thoroughly modern, American hero.Finalist for the National Book Award 2002In 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.
Elizabeth GilbertĀ is the #1 New York Times bestselling author ofĀ Eat, Pray, Love, and several other internationally bestselling books of fiction and nonfiction. Gilbert began her career writing forĀ Harper's Bazaar, Spin,Ā the New York Times Magazine,Ā andĀ GQ, and was a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. Her story collectionĀ PilgrimsĀ was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award;Ā The Last American ManĀ was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The follow-up memoirĀ CommittedĀ became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. Her latest novel,Ā The Signature of All Things, was named a Best Book of 2013 by the New York Times, O Magazine, the Washington Post,Ā the Chicago Tribune, and the New Yorker. Gilbertās short fiction has appeared inĀ Esquire, Story, One Story, and theĀ Paris Review.
Patricia KalemberĀ studied acting at Indiana University and Temple University after being encouraged by her high-school drama teacher. She finished College with a BA in theater and immediately started acting in major regional and off-Broadway productions. In New York, where she was born, she worked in numerous daytime soaps, commercials, and theatrical events. She received a nomination for the Outer Critics Circle Award for her part in the long-running play The Foreigner.
Elizabeth GilbertĀ is the #1 New York Times bestselling author ofĀ Eat, Pray, Love, and several other internationally bestselling books of fiction and nonfiction. Gilbert began her career writing forĀ Harper's Bazaar, Spin,Ā the New York Times Magazine,Ā andĀ GQ, and was a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. Her story collectionĀ PilgrimsĀ was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award;Ā The Last American ManĀ was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The follow-up memoirĀ CommittedĀ became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. Her latest novel,Ā The Signature of All Things, was named a Best Book of 2013 by the New York Times, O Magazine, the Washington Post,Ā the Chicago Tribune, and the New Yorker. Gilbertās short fiction has appeared inĀ Esquire, Story, One Story, and theĀ Paris Review.
Patricia KalemberĀ studied acting at Indiana University and Temple University after being encouraged by her high-school drama teacher. She finished College with a BA in theater and immediately started acting in major regional and off-Broadway productions. In New York, where she was born, she worked in numerous daytime soaps, commercials, and theatrical events. She received a nomination for the Outer Critics Circle Award for her part in the long-running play The Foreigner.
Reviews
"The finest examination of American masculinity and wilderness since Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild." —Outside"Wickedly well-written...Without compromising her obvious admiration, Ms. Gilbert presents a warts-and-all portrait of Mr. Conway and a sophisticated understanding of why those warts are only natural.... A vigorous, engaging book." —The New York Times Book Review
"Gilbert artfully taps into this unique life to create a fascinating, deeply thought-out and anthralling narrative." —Los Angeles Times
"A vivid, nuanced portrait of an endlessly complicated man." —San Francisco Chronicle
"The Last American Man relates the riveting story of Conway's odyssey from a child of affluent parents, to mountain man, to the owner of 1,000 acres of woods and fields in western North Carolina. Gilbert sees in Conway's life a parable for our time, a way of capturing how our culture is sapping us of all that is vital." —Chicago Tribune
"There are so many reasons to read this book. Read it for the portrait of a man who isn't divorced from the land below and the sky above. Read it to watch his youthful ambitions fade into tired gasps. Read it to see how Gilbert gets at her subject without ever stabbing him in the back." —Entertainment Weekly
"Conway is a character almost too goofd to believe...In Gilbert, he may have found the perfect writer to tell his story...from Conway's life, Gilbert takes off on delightful tangents about the nature of manhood, the appeal of utopian communities, the history of the frontier and the lingering myth of the frontiersman. The subject becomes much broader than one man's life. It's about what has been lost with progress, and what can be reclaimed." —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"An important book, and well-wrought to boot...Gilbert just plain catches him: It is hard to imagine a deeper, more insightful portrait...her book is wise and knowing." —Men's Journal
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