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The Last American Man Hardcover – May 13, 2002
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- Print length271 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherRiverhead Hardcover
- Publication dateMay 13, 2002
- Dimensions6.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-100670030864
- ISBN-13978-0670030866
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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 : 1.2 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #874,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #602 in Environmentalist & Naturalist Biographies
- #659 in Men's Gender Studies
- #4,107 in Author Biographies
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

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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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on August 22, 2019
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Top reviews from the United States
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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.
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
Top reviews from other countries
The book is 270 pages of a fairly tight text. split into 9 chapters and was first published in 2002.
Whilst the writing is still a high standard I think that the author's obsession with her subject distracts from the purpose of the book which is for the reader to be interested in Eustace. I lost interest in him very early and never recovered.
Eustace Conway is one of the most fascinating real-life characters I have read in a non-fiction work in a VERY long time. Although compared to Davey Crockett, Daniel Boone and even a young Roosevelt, he is definitely a unique individual who's charismatic ways pull you in from the first few pages. It's especially interesting to witness an almost 'evolution of man' in the last several hundred years spread out before you in between the covers of the book.
Elizabeth Gilbert has captured his very essence and has told his story brilliantly (at least to this point in his life, as he's only 48 and I doubt his exciting adventuring around the world is over). After reading it I am ready to start planning a summer camp trip to Turtle Island for my youngest 2 sons when they are a bit older. My eldest son (who's 20) was an active member of the Scouts growing up and has pretty good survivalist skills, but having a summer camp like the one Eustace organises would have been invaluable in his education.
If you only read one non-fiction book this year, this should be the one :) 10/10












