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Elizabeth Gilbert

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The Last American Man Hardcover – May 13, 2002

by Elizabeth Gilbert (Author)

4.3 1,654 ratings

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The author of Pilgrims moves from short fiction to nonfiction, offering a cultural examination of the modern American male, exploring the meaning of manhood in all of its contradictions, meaning, and challenges. 35,000 first printing.

From Publishers Weekly

"By the time Eustace Conway was seven years old he could throw a knife accurately enough to nail a chipmunk to a tree." Such behavior might qualify Eustace as a potential Columbine-style triggerman, but in Gilbert's startling and fascinating account of his life, he becomes a great American countercultural hero. At 17, Conway "headed into the mountains... and dressed in the skins of animals he had hunted and eaten." By his late 30s, Eustace owned "a thousand acres of pristine wilderness" and lived in a teepee in the woods full-time. He is, as Gilbert (Stern Men) implies with her literary and historical references, a cross between Davy Crockett and Henry David Thoreau. Gilbert, who is friends with Conway and interviewed his family, evidences enormous enthusiasm for her subject, whether discussing Conway's need for alcohol to calm down; his relationship with a physically and emotionally abusive father; or his horrific hand-to-antler fight with a deer buck he was trying to kill yet she always keeps her reporter's distance. At times, Conway's story can be wonderfully moving (as when he buries kindergartners in a shallow trench with their faces turned skyward to help them understand that the forest floor is "alive") or disconcerting (as when, in 1995, he's uncertain about Bill Clinton's identity). Gilbert has a jaunty, breathless style, and she paints a complicated portrait of American maleness that is as original as it is surprising.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Eustace Conway discovered nature's wonders as a boy growing up in South Carolina during the 1960s. Miserable at home, a born perfectionist and fanatic, he took to the woods and developed wilderness skills unknown to most modern Americans. By the time he finished high school and moved into a teepee (his abode for 17 years), he was convinced that only encounters with "the high art and godliness of nature" could help save American society from its catastrophically wasteful habits and soul-deadening trivial pursuits. Conway is not alone in his beliefs, but he is unique in his maniacal drive to proselytize, and, ironically enough, he's taken his teaching mission to such extremes by attempting to create an Appalachian wilderness utopia that it's impossible for him to live the very life he champions. Tough, shrewd, gifted, vigorous, and contradictory, Conway, who set a world record crossing the continent on horseback in 103 days, both enlightens and confounds all who know him. Gilbert, a top-notch journalist and fiction writer, braids keen and provocative observations about the American frontier, the myth of the mountain man, and the peculiar state of contemporary America with its "profound alienation" from nature into her spirited and canny portrait, ultimately concluding that Conway's magnetism is due in part to his embodying society's most urgent conundrums. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

[a] spirited and canny portrait... -- Booklist, starred review

About the Author

Elizabeth Gilbert is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love, and several other internationally bestselling books of fiction and nonfiction. Gilbert 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.

Print length

271 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Riverhead Hardcover
Publication date

May 13, 2002
Dimensions

6.3 x 1.13 x 9.32 inches
ISBN-10

0670030864
ISBN-13

978-0670030866
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Hardcover (May 13, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 271 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0670030864
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0670030866
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.18 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.13 x 9.32 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #735,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #598 in Men's Gender Studies
- #617 in Environmentalist & Naturalist Biographies
- #3,556 in Author Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4.3 1,654 ratings

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Elizabeth Gilbert

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Elizabeth Gilbert is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love, as well as the short story collection, Pilgrims—a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and winner of the 1999 John C. Zacharis First Book Award from Ploughshares. A Pushcart Prize winner and National Magazine Award-nominated journalist, she works as writer-at-large for GQ. Her journalism has been published in Harper's Bazaar, Spin, and The New York Times Magazine, and her stories have appeared in Esquire, Story, and the Paris Review.

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4.3 out of 5

1,654 global ratings

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A Critical Reader

Interesting subject, beautiful writing and storytelling

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2018

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I read this book for one reason and one reason only: it was written by Elizabeth Gilbert. After finishing Eat, Pray, Love I was in love with Gilbert's writing and found the book to be utterly compelling. Yet when I went to write the review I was in shock to find so many critics.

Likewise with this book. So many disgruntled readers, but why?

To each's own is all I can say. I loved it. Though I had no idea who Eustace Conway was when the book began, by the end I felt like I knew him well.

Not only is naturalist Conway intriguing but Gilbert makes him all the more so. She gets to the heart of the man, what drives him, what inspires him and what hurts him too. She shows his triumphs and failures, strengths and weaknesses.

It's such an interesting read, I had a hard time putting it down. And despite having no interest in this stranger before I started, after finishing I wanted to know more. Where is he now? What has become of the guy who calls himself a spokesperson for Earth? To my surprise, he's on a reality show! Who would have guessed?

It does indeed make sense. If Eustace wanted to reach more people with his message of primitive living, television is a sure way to do it, ironic as it is being that he doesn’t watch television and wants the world to get away from materialism and instant gratification and return to nature. On the flip side, how else can he reach them if not by entering their world before bringing them to his?

I was also impressed with Gilbert, spending so much time on Turtle Island and doing back-breaking work herself. It adds a new dimension to Eat, Pray, Love, demonstrating the author's eternal desire for a basic and spiritual existence despite her city life and financial wealth.

Bottom line: Eustace Conway is an interesting subject, and Elizabeth Gilbert’s beautiful writing and storytelling make him shine. Highly recommend.

18 people found this helpful

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Elizabeth W. Cook

A Good, Interesting Read

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024

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The main character strives to live in a way to appreciate woods, animals, and to teach others the things he loves. It is a good look at what life is in Modern Society verses his view.

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LaBonte

Insightful and Honest

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2018

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This is my first encounter with Elizabeth Gilbert's writing. I am impressed on many levels. First, her knowledge of her subject was incredible: I mean, she nailed him in every way. What magnificent insight into this deeply troubled saviour of America. Eustace Conway reminds me of all the self-proclaimed noble heroes of their own stories. They are so blinded by their agendas they often cause more unintended greif than the good works they think they may accomplish. Although Gilbert does not dare use the word narcissist in characterizing Eustice (egoistic is too bland a term for such a pathetic prophet), she should have. Yes, Eustace is driven to succeed; yes, he bravely challenges himself; yes, he distinguishes himself; but, no, he is not an admirable man. He is a man who has not learned the main lessons of his own experiences nor the main lessons of his various teachers. Stop. Examine your own egotistical self. Therein lie all your problems in achieving happiness. If Eustace could really examine his own life the way he lectures others to do (and here honesty is the key), he might yet find serenity.
But I am analyzing "the last American man" instead of Gilbert's writing style, voice,etc. I will just affirm that she couldn't have arranged or said it all any better.
As for the American man...and his lack of development...and all his fears and phobias...and his ignorance...and his inevitable descent-- all true in the mainstream, as witnessed during 35 years of teaching high school boys and girls.

8 people found this helpful

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thePost

If you like tall tales

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2016

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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.

102 people found this helpful

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Erica

Adorato

Reviewed in Italy on May 28, 2020

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Elizabeth non mi delude mai, letto in inglese perché non trovata la versione in italiano, ma scrive in maniera così semplice e carismatica che ti trasporta nel libro , sembra quasi di conoscere Eustace personalmente.

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Jefferson C. Conz

supreendentemente rico

Reviewed in Brazil on August 30, 2016

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muitos detalhes da vida do Eustace, história totalmente cativante do começo ao fim, o livro é cheio de surpresas e mantém a atenção, leitura agradável e rápida, sem momentos monótonos, rico em detalhes específicos e até onde sei, bem verdadeiros

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Alice DY

Une autre vision de l'Amérique

Reviewed in France on August 4, 2015

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J'ai vraiment aimé ce livre, dès les premières lignes ,le ton est donné, ,Elisabeth Gilbert nous emmène explorer une certaine vision des États-Unis par l'intermédiaire de la vie d'Eustace Conway. L'écriture est énergique ,rude , dépouillée à l'image du personnage.je ne saurais que recommander ce livre, radicalement différent du célèbre "eat pray love".

One person found this helpful

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Helena

Sehr gut!

Reviewed in Germany on January 1, 2013

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Ich liebe es, Elisabeth Gilbert zu lesen! Eine Autorin, die man einfach lesen möchte. Sie schreibt so authentisch.

Auch das Thema von dem Buch fand ich sehr interessant. Es bleibt in Erinnerung, man lernt was daraus. Und sehr gut geschrieben!

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Jenny Hayworth

Wow

Reviewed in Australia on June 26, 2016

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An amazing story of one man reflecting brilliance, determination, relentless zeal, disillusionment and world weariness and deep sadness I have read for awhile. What a gift and what a tragedy. What an amazing man and what a disaster. A maze of contradictions and yet heartbreakingly honest and zealous and full of good heartfelt intention but in the end again a man - just a man. Live and be happy in the woods within your peace and sanctuary and protect it from the outside world but just stop doing what doesn't make you happy. You don't have to please your father anymore and you don't have to work yourself in the ground to be a success. You already are.

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