Share <Embed>

Buy New

$13.60

List Price: $16.00
Save: $2.40 (15%)

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item ships to France. Want it Wednesday, Oct. 10? Order within and choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

Deliver to France

Buy Used

$7.89

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Deliver to France

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by Lightfoot Fulfillment (Veteran Owned)

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$14.59
+ $3.59 shipping

Sold by: Zoom-Deals

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

The Last American Man Paperback – May 27, 2003

by Elizabeth Gilbert (Author)

306 customer reviews

See all 23 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.54

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$21.77

$12.95

$1.35

Paperback

"Please retry"

$13.60

$5.00

$0.99

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

—

$26.72

—

Audio CD

"Please retry"

$31.83

—

Unknown Binding

"Please retry"

$986.53

$732.55

Finalist for the National Book Award 2002

Look out for Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, on sale now!

In 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.

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Elizabeth Gilbert

121

Paperback
$11.52
Elizabeth Gilbert

701

Paperback
$7.67
Elizabeth Gilbert

3,475

Paperback
$13.60
Michael S. Gazzaniga

42

Paperback
$12.74
Elizabeth Gilbert

32

Paperback
$9.00
Porter Fox

71

Paperback
11 offers from $6.00

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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

About the Author

Look out for Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, on sale now! Gilbert is the #1 New York Times bestselling author ofEat Pray Love and several other internationally bestselling books of fiction and nonfiction. She began her career writing for Harper's Bazaar, Spin, The New York Times Magazine and GQ, and was a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. Her story collection Pilgrims was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway award;The Last American Man was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The follow-up memoir Committed became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. Her latest novel, The Signature of All Things, was named a Best Book of 2013 by The New York Times, O Magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The New Yorker. Gilbert’s short fiction has appeared in Esquire, Story, One Story, and the Paris Review.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Books; Reissue edition (May 27, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780142002834
ISBN-13: 978-0142002834
ASIN: 0142002836
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.5 x 7.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 306 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #35 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional U.S. > South
- #45 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Rural
- #81 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Gender Studies > Men

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Important information

Ingredients

Example Ingredients

Directions

Example Directions

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

See Kindle Edition

Customer reviews

Write a customer review

See all 306 customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

CONWAY IS NOT THE AMERICAN MAN I WANT TO BE

January 3, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

“The Last American Man” is the third Elizabeth Gilbert book I’ve read: In fact, that makes three Gilberts in a row, something I rarely do. Although I’ve come to admire her spirit and writing ability, this book is somewhat disappointing. The interesting subject matter is still there, the writing is impeccable, and, as usual, she keeps me engrossed. But somewhere, in her study of this unusual man’s makeup, I consider her subject, Eustace Conway, as being an unlikeable person with flawed makeup who doesn’t deserve her soft-pedaled praise and admiration.

It’s the story of a survivalist with such a strange and outrageous lifestyle that, in my opinion, his mental balance comes into question. I appreciate Conway’s passion for uncomplicated living and return-to-nature enthusiasm. But his intent to convert all wasteful and thoughtless humans into his own image while using tyranny, selfishness, and one-sided logic does not make him an admirable figure; especially as he leaves in his wake a history of family turmoil, broken friendships, and disillusioned women. A lengthy succession of brilliant women, initially enthralled with his charisma, has abandoned him because of his unreasonable dominating nature. I was highly offended by his actions and expectations of other people.

Eustace Conroy IV is a product of his father’s brutal nurturing and agonizes over it, yet he displays the same sort of cruel demeanor. He believes that obedience, discipline, and order is the way people should endure life and he doesn’t like to have his convictions or his demands on how to achieve such a life be questioned. If folks desire to be trained in the rigorous procedure of returning to nature at his service farm community at Turtle Rock in North Carolina, all demands for compliance with his techniques must be met. Over the years, however, he has found that very few employees or campers share his enthusiasm for backbreaking work, meager rations, and unpleasant living conditions. They leave in droves with unpleasant memories.

I am uneasy with Gilbert’s apparent fascination with Conway. She does disparage him a bit for his self-centered behavior and agonizes over his failure to make corrections in the way he treats people, but I detect a sprinkling
of admiration in some of her observations of his deportment. In my opinion he doesn’t rate even a drizzle and I would not have expected this based on other Gilbert writing or her personal convictions.

But my faith in this author and her talent has not diminished. I still stand in admiration for her research, her writing clarity, and her ability to capture the reader’s interest. In spite of my misgivings about the man, I found “Last American” to be very illuminating. I urge you to read this book because my displeasure might be misguided and there might be other merits I’m overlooking. You shouldn’t miss the chance for some thought-provoking musing and the opportunity to tell me that I’m full of crap.

Schuyler T Wallace
Author of TIN LIZARD TALES

106 people found this helpful107 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Matt32

If you like tall tales

February 10, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I first started seeing this book talked about on survival/outdoors forums. When I saw Eustace on Mountain Men I decided he would be an interesting subject to read on.

If you were to ask me to rate this book on story alone, I'd give it at least 4 stars. If you like tall tales, the thrill-seeking adventurist, and nature then this is a really great book. I myself am a slow reader, but I blew through this in a couple of days. Once you get started it is positively gripping. It is like a larger than life wilderness trek that actually happened. Sort of...

That being said, the book fails at what it is intended to be, which is a biography. Many reviews criticize Gilbert's writing as coming off as immature, and I agree, and it is definitely not unbiased. She tries to sell Eustace like a wingman tries to sell his best friend at the bar. This leads to a lot of lawyer talk that makes her stories unbelievable. For example, she spends the majority of the book making Eustace's father seem like the most horrible person on Earth, and yet he still loans his son $80,000? She tells a story about them bonding and then, with no explanation at all, apparently Eustace's father goes back into his shell and starts being mean to Eustace? She talks about how Eustace doesn't use his power and fame over women and yet every single relationship she goes over ends for the same reason- Eustace neglects women and expects them to do his chores while he goes and plays mountain man and then when it goes south, he writes them letters with content most of us would likely turn over to the authorities. Gilbert talks about how patient Eustace is and how he loves to teach, and yet he makes his students sign at least 2 year agreements to stay and work for him and when they don't perform up to his expectations he throws tantrums and kicks them to the curb, forgetting he is trying to teach ancient ways of life that took thousands of years to cultivate, to modern people. I hate to even mention the part in which Gilbert makes reference to one of Eustace's horses feeling as good between his thighs as one of his women. That part was absolutely creepy and a horrible choice of wording, I actually put the book down and thought "WTF" for a moment. I only bring it up because the book is full of these little awkward nuances.
Gilbert tells us we must fall in love with Eustace himself, and not the idea of him, however, this is exactly what she does. Eustace is her hero, but inadvertently she brings out how flawed he really is. And it is ugly. Eustace comes off as abusive- some might even say psychopathic, but the whole time Gilbert makes a half-hearted attempt to place the blame on everyone else. If anything, this book confirmed my suspicions aroused by the Mountain Men show, that Eustace is a real jerk.
If you want to keep the image most of you probably have of Eustace, which is the happy hippy, or you want an honest look into the man, I would avoid this book. If you are looking for an exciting read about some (most likely embellished) outdoor Wildman fun then The Last American Man is definitely worth a read.

61 people found this helpful62 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

nausetsunrise

Not what was expected based on the description

July 18, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I had hoped for a biography and an understanding of a way of life. I am confused about Gilbert's outlook and opinion of her subject. Gilbert is a talented writer, and her fiction is extremely enjoyable. I think she didn't know what to make of her subject here, and wrestles with that and without a resolution within her own mind, this is the product of her thoughts. I'm not trying to be overly critical, as the subject of the book is a complex one that likely surprised the author in the complexity of the situation, and also the dichotomies. Eustace is a man living out of time in many respects. He is full of conflicting outlooks and presentation. I believe he is traumatized by his upbringing as his home life and the treatment of him by his father even in adulthood is abusive. Eustace is like Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild, a child grown into a confused adult as the result of trauma and abuse in his upbringing.

4 people found this helpful5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: The Last American Man

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Elizabeth Gilbert

2,227

Paperback
$10.89
Elizabeth Gilbert

3,475

Paperback
$13.60
Elizabeth Gilbert

4,277

in General Indonesia Travel…
Paperback
$7.19
Elizabeth Gilbert

701

Paperback
$7.67
Elizabeth Gilbert

121

Paperback
$11.52
Elizabeth Gilbert

32

Paperback
$9.00

Pages with related products. See and discover other items: wilderness adventure books, wilderness study area, outdoor adventure books

Buy New

$13.60

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Buy Used

$7.89

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Other Sellers on Amazon

The Last American Man Paperback – May 27, 2003

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Related Video Shorts (0)

Be the first video

Important information

Ingredients

Directions

Sponsored products related to this item

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

Customer reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy New $13.60

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Buy Used $7.89

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Other Sellers on Amazon

The Last American Man Paperback – May 27, 2003

Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought

Sponsored products related to this item

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Related Video Shorts (0)

Be the first video

Important information

Ingredients

Directions

Sponsored products related to this item

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

Customer reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Most recent customer reviews

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Buy New

$13.60

Buy Used

$7.89