First Lines of Michael Finkel's "The Stranger in the Woods"

"The trees are mostly skinny where the hermit lives, but they’re tangled over giant boulders with deadfall everywhere like pick-up sticks. There are no trails. Navigation, for nearly everyone, is a thrashing, branch-snapping order, and at dark the place seems impenetrable."

- The Stranger in the Woods, Michael Finkel 

What an odd book. On one hand, it's a fascinating study of a Christopher Knight, a hermit who spent 27 isolated years in central Maine without talking to another person. Knight was compelled to abandon society, but did so by stealing money and supplies to survive on his own. Finkel shows us how Knight's desire is linked to a rich history hermits (did you know that in the 18th century rich folks would pay someone to be the "garden hermit" of their estate?). However, Knight is eventually caught, and the second part of the book, covering Knight's re-entry into society and Finkel's increasingly awkward attempts to get close to his subject, are less successful. By the end of the book, I felt sorry for Knight, and wished that Finkel would leave the poor guy alone. Regardless, The Stranger in the Woods is a compelling picture of what it takes to live in the woods for decades.