Customer Reviews

Idaho loners : hermits, solitaries, and individualists

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is an entertaining account of some of Idaho's characters. It is one of those books that you hate to see end.

The author surmises that Idaho has more loners than any other western state, and he celebrates a dozen of them in his book. Whether Idaho has so many hermits because of geography or luck, it is a far richer place because of them!

Short bios of many interesting people who have "lived off the grid" of what we consider to be "normal" civilization. They are very inventive and self sufficient people who just want to live solitary lives for the most part. Quite an interesting book.

I'll start out by saying that I really enjoyed this book. As a lifelong loner, I'm naturally
interested in the subject, and this book did not disappoint. I first heard of Mr. Conley's work
in an article about the death of Dugout Dick, the last of the Idaho Loners. I knew I had to buy
the book, and I'm so glad I did.

I liked "Idaho Loners" for several reasons. First and foremost, I liked how the author bifurcated
the book into individual stories about various Idahoans. Peppering the book with individual stories kept the
reading interesting and fluid, and I wasn't bogged down with excessive and superfluous facts about
any one individual.

It seems like the proclivity for solitude is often celebrated with an excess of romanticism in our
current culture. This book dispels popular notions that oftentimes tend to over-irrigate the subject at
hand, and instead articulates stories of people, some extraordinary, some average, and some criminal, yet all
attempting to live in accord with their respective inclinations. You won't find any heavy-
handedness or holier-than-thou diatribes for or against the subject matter, but instead a very nice
format in which a multitude of biographical sketches are presented with sound objectivity.

I also liked some of the nuances in which the book was presented. I loved how the author opened up each biography
with a quote, oftentimes about solitude. Very nice touch. There are photographs at the end of each biography, and I got a lot out of seeing the lives of these Idahoan loners encapsulated in pictures. I also enjoyed how the author attempted to present the life philosophy of each individual in the book. One oftentimes wonders what leads a person to choose solitude, or why a person is the way they are. The book attempts to answer these questions at times, and it also communicates some of the every day life philosophies of those chronicled in this work.

What else can I say? This book was not only informative, but it was fun. It was fun because I can not only
sympathize with the subject matter, but also because the author didn't over-intellectualize the topic
and attempt to make it something that it isn't. If you're curious about hermits, loners, solitaries, and
individualists, and also enjoy reading biographical sketches, then you simply cannot go wrong with this
book. I thought I was a fairly dedicated loner, but after reading about these Idahoans, I now realize I am nothing more than a novice.

A great reference book and a very interesting read as well. Good illustrations and well written. A good addition to my library.

truly enjoyable, informative and easy to read james angleton was my favorite worth reading for any one interested in idaho history.