Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest [Hardcover]

Robin Easton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2010

'You must be mad to live in the bloody jungle, mates.' Not mad exactly, just disconnected and seeking more meaning and adventure in their lives. An eccentric free spirit who never quite fit in, Robin Easton saw her soul mate in Ian—a rugged, rowdy Aussie who wanted out of the confines of his family's business. Together they planned their Great Escape: to live off the grid in a remote area of Australia's Daintree Rainforest.

But as their Jeep wound its way closer to the tiny black dot on the map, Robin couldn't have fathomed just how the jungle would test her mentally, physically, and spiritually. As she came face to face with her fears of deadly snakes, leeches, and man-eating crocodiles, she began to unravel the mysteries of life and death, love and loss, and nature and humankind. Hidden in the forest mist, she discovered our biological relationship to the natural world and our unique place in it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Naked in Eden is a can't-put-it-down thrilling account of who we really are--and why our connection with the natural world is so healing and vital. This book is a page turner. I couldn't help but think, 'I want to see the movie!'"

--Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of Mother-Daughter Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause,and Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom

(Christiane Northrup )

About the Author

Robin Easton walked away from society at the age of twenty-five.  She left the United States and went to live with her husband in the remote tropical Daintree Rainforest of Queensland, Australia. One of Robin's most remarkable rainforest experiences was the gift of music.  During her last year in the rainforests of Australia she began to dream beautiful music.  When she returned to the United States she sat at a piano and played as if she'd played for ten years.  Unable to read music, Robin has performed and recorded on both the east and west coasts.  She's done production work with musician Les Brown, Jr., and produced and published her own piano solo album, all from her original dream music.

Robin's story has been told on an award-winning NBC News affiliate piece, Paul Harvey News, CNN, KBLA Radio, KSFR, and others.  She's appeared in magazines and newspapers throughout the U.S. and Canada.  In 2002 Robin helped found the Daintree Rainforest Land Trust (DRLT) to help save the vital rainforests.  She writes and blogs at www.nakedineden.com.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: HCI; 1 edition (August 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0757315127
• ISBN-13: 978-0757315121
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #556,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Rain Forests
  • #41 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Australian

More About the Author

ROBIN EASTON, author of "Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest", is an adventurer. She spent much of her adult life in wild remote areas including, Alaska, Tasmania, Australia and the north woods of Maine, and has traveled to New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, and lived throughout Europe. She is a writer, speaker, musician, nature photographer, and artisan.

Robin grew up in beautiful western Maine. Her parents were committed to getting their children away from the TV and into nature. In her book, "Naked in Eden", Robin tells how her father got rid of the family TV and took his six kids into the wild. Robin's father taught her how to camp, hike, handle a canoe, and a bow and arrow. He instilled in her a creative and freethinking way of life, and encouraged her to be adventurous.

At age twenty-five Easton left the USA, walked away from society, and went to live with her husband in the remote Daintree Rainforest of Queensland, Australia. Easton's true life stories entertain, educate and inspire. In the rainforest, kangaroos, birds and bandicoots befriended her, as her bare feet shared paths with centipedes, leeches and ticks. She learned to handle and identify some of the world's deadliest snakes.

One of Robin's most remarkable rainforest experiences was the gift of music. During her last year in the rainforests of Australia she began to dream beautiful music. When she returned to the USA she sat at a piano and played as if she'd played for ten years. Although unable to read music, Robin went on to perform liven shows. Robin tells more about this story in her second book, which she is currently working on.

Robin thrives on challenges, new experiences, and being with nature. She's been hit twice by lightning, but still loves the wildness of storms. However, she now takes more care. She loves hiking barefoot up mountains, camping under the stars, kayaking, canoeing, nature photography, playing the Native American flute, composing piano solos, singing, glass fusing, and pottery. Robin feels her main passion in life is to love. Her story has been told on an award-winning NBC News affiliate piece, Paul Harvey News, KBLA Radio, KSFR and others. She's appeared in magazines and newspapers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Most Unusual Love Story, September 1, 2010

By 

DeeDee0719 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest (Hardcover)

Just as her book's title holds layered meaning, so does Robin Easton's engaging personal story.

"Naked in Eden" is an unforgettable adventure tale, mesmerizing in its bold and revealing honesty. Easton holds nothing back as she relates how she reclaimed herself in a most unusual way. Twenty-five years old, mildly autistic, and alone with her new husband in a foreign country half-way around the world from her home and all that was familiar, she found the greatest treasure in life among glistening moments of pure beauty.

Exciting, impactful, and awe-inspiring, this nail-biting account of a period in her life is filled with breathtaking scenery, danger, humor, passion and compassion, wisdom, and the most profoundly beautiful love. It's an unusual adventure story, a journey of self-discovery, and filled with universal wisdom.
Easton's delightful story is powerful and moving, and it's filled with astounding moments of courage, strength, honesty, vision, and woven throughout her tale are shining nuggets of cautions, lessons, and wisdoms for the world. If readers look beyond the surface, they will find universal messages they can apply for themselves, life lessons for growth and awareness about what it means to live a life that's in absolute harmony with everything and everyone: all our world's living beings.

This hard-to-put-down book is an easy read, with dialog and descriptions that flow as smoothly as an undisturbed river. My recommendation, however, is to read it as slowly as you're able, just so you don't miss any hidden nuggets of juicy revelations about life. I couldn't do that, though. I just finished it, and will turn right around and read it again, for the deeper messages, to catch all the subtleties I know I didn't allow to register the first time, gleaning more insights from this most unusual and uplifting love story about life and the world we live in.

I can't recommend this book enough, and I eagerly await Easton's next tale!

A final word--or two:
My admiration for this woman is unbounded. I teasingly remarked to a friend that we should clone Easton, and he said, "Cloning her is a great idea. It could transform life as we know it overnight." I totally agree! The world needs more who approach life and live it as she does: fearlessly and wholeheartedly, and eagerly seeking the best within and sharing it widely.

Easton is a worthy role model for all of us.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Title: Naked in thought, word and deed, August 31, 2010

By 

Poppy J. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest (Hardcover)

In the book, Robin Easton discovers herself and her full capabilities as a woman explorer in Queensland's northeastern coast, at a place called Cape Tribulation in the Daintree Rainforest of Australia. Robin Eason grew up on Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway, Maine, and in the book, she went to Australia for adventure and to find herself. She went with her husband Ian, a native Australian whom she met in Salt Lake City, when they were both in their mid-twenties.

The story's account is filled with local color, interesting local language and vibrant scenery from Australia. Robin is looking for the courage that lies within herself, and she finally finds it - in the eyes of predator animals intent on possibly making her their lunch! There is non-stop excitement, and the reader will barely be able to catch his or her own breath as the story moves from one exciting escapade to another.

Ian is a "character" within a character. He is first a bit of a wild card, as he is from a well-heeled family and always up for getting and going away. Robin at first seems to be his side-kick, then she moves tenderly into the role of his protector and savior all rolled into one. In Australia, Robin discovers that she is much tougher than she had originally thought of herself. Through all of the adventures, injuries and mishaps in the jungle, Robin perseveres. I admire her commitment to embrace the natural world around her, and to decide to "really live" for once in her life.

She understands that her journey is to reverse the disconnection we all feel with society and with each other. She understands that as a human, with higher thoughts, emotions, dreams and goals - she is not "above" or separate from any (or all other) forms of life. Her prior attitude of superiority at the top of the food chain has made her arrogant and vain, selfish and greedy. The journey into the rainforest showed her how her spirit connects her o all living things - where the animals can hear her most intimate thoughts, the predators respect her countenance, and she realizes that they allow her to live another day by their grace - and not the other way around.

I recommend this book to any age and audience.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiration - Don't Miss this Book, September 5, 2010

By 

A Flourishing Life (Santa Barbara) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest (Hardcover)

Robin is the real deal, and you are shortchanging yourself if you miss this book.

On the surface, Naked in Eden is about Robin's exploits in the Australian rainforest that will keep you at the edge of your seat in anticipation of her next adventure. But underneath, with Robin as our unwitting guide, this book conveys the possibility for all of us to realize that we are one with life, that we are nature itself, infinite wisdom, and that there truly is no separation.

Robin's words ooze with truth and insight. She enters the rainforest depleted and disillusioned and emerges healed and whole beyond her wildest dreams. Her enthusiasm is contagious. One cannot help but be transformed by the clarity with which she describes the limitless nature of our very existence.

Whether communing with a dying bandicoot or sharing the journey of a butterfly breaking out of its pupa, Robin's writing makes the world of the rainforest come alive, almost as if you were right there with her.

Robin is a living example of awakening in form. Her book is ecstatic, intimate, mesmerizing, earthy. Read it slowly and let yourself be transformed in ways you never thought were possible.