The Man Who Quit Money

by Mark Sundeen

In 2000, Daniel Suelo left his life savings—all thirty dollars of it—in a phone booth. He has lived without money—and with a newfound sense of freedom and security—ever since. The Man Who Quit Money is an account of how one man learned to live, sanely and happily, without earning, receiving, or spending a single cent. Suelo doesn't pay taxes, or accept food stamps or welfare. He lives in caves in the Utah canyonlands, forages wild foods and gourmet discards. He no longer even carries an I.D. Yet he manages to amply fulfill not only the basic human needs—for shelter, food, and warmth—but, to an enviable degree, the universal desires for companionship, purpose, and spiritual engagement. By retracing the surprising path and guiding philosophy that led Suelo from an idealistic childhood through youthful disillusionment to his radical reinvention of "the good life," Sundeen raises provocative and riveting questions about the decisions we all make—by default or by design—about how we live. The Man Who Quit Money inspires us to imagine how we might live better.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Philosophy, Money, Memoir, Economics, Biography Memoir

260 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2012

Reviews

[Damian · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an honor to be called "Daniel's best friend" in this gripping book about him that describes how he learned to live abundantly by rejecting our cultural beliefs about money. Daniel and I were roommates at the University of Colorado 25 years ago and we have remained close ever since, living in the same tiny town in the desert. So the stories in this book are familiar and dear to me. Mark Sundeen retells Daniel Suelo's many adventures with vivid detail and incredulous mirth, letting the reader decide if he is a Prophet for our times or just a highly amusing bum. In my opinion, Sundeen makes a serious case for how Suelo contends for "the most interesting man in the world" title as he barely wins all-out fistfights with Death and personal demons on glaciers in Alaska, in a monastery in Thailand, or a remote village in Ecuador, and finally atop one of Colorado's highest peaks.

Sundeen also captured the highlights of each major stage in Daniel's spiritual life, showing his growth from an enthusiastic fundamentalist to a serious Old Testament scholar to a mystical cultural anthropologist to a gifted student of world religion to a disillusioned social worker to a desert naturalist to a beloved hobo to a profound visionary in our troubled economic times. More than that, Sundeen paints Daniel's portrait against the canvas of recent social and financial trends in America. He interrelates trickle-down Reaganomics, the rise of neo-Conservatism, the Religious Right and multinational corporations with the Occupy movement, the Rainbow gathering, social welfare programs, the growing rich-poor gap and "freegans" around the world. Before reading this book, it never occured to me how Daniel's life has consistently reflected the zeitgeist of our age.

CORRECTIONS:

I noticed a few minor inaccuracies related to my role in Daniel's life. For example, the Russian chess player Igor Ivanov who spent the whole night drinking vodka and arguing politics with Matthew was not just a master but an international grandmaster, the strongest chess mind ever to live in Utah. Also, I was living in California when my ex-girlfriend Linda awoke at three in the morning with a house full of smoke and a small fire burning through the floor where Daniel and Matthew left a candle unattended. She was livid the next day, especially because the imported rug had been a very sentimental gift from my mother. Expecting an apology from Daniel, instead she received a rebuke about being too attached to material objects. To this day she accuses me of taking Daniel's side over hers, so the emotional tension portrayed by Sundeen is quite accurate, showing the reader that some serious rough spots existed along Daniel's spiritual path.

But Linda and I did not split up over this incident. Also, the coffee-table that covered the hole in the rug was not Daniel's attempt to hide his mistake, as the text implies, but my own successful solution for "fixing" the whole situation with humor when I returned weeks later. Also, the verb "to hump" is not in my vocabulary, according to my wife, and I am embarrassed by the quotation attributed to me. But again Mark's main point in that paragraph is completely correct, showing the awkwardness between two Christian men, one gay and one heterosexual, who truly love each other after years of intentional celibacy through college.

These minor inaccuracies don't distract from the story, they make it more compelling. Sundeen's compact writing style captures with elegant detail and juicy phrases the experiences, people, emotions and philosophies that have guided Daniel's lifelong quest. To summarize Teilhard de Chardin in a page or two is a feat of literary genius. Similarly, the influence of Professor Brian Mahan on our mutual spiritual development, evidenced by the reading list for his Psychology of Religion class, cannot be overestimated. Mahan appears in appropriate measure and accurate detail in Sundeen's work, including his authentic humility and deliciously sparkling humor. Sundeen did a wonderful job portraying the other characters I know, illustrating their dignity and wisdom with appropriate humor and their foibles and frustrations with kindness.

ADDITIONS:

The remainder of this review adds details to the book, filling out a few little parts of Daniel's story that feel important to me, thus completing and otherwise perfect book by Sundeen.

1) We had a third college roommate who committed suicide two years after leaving Boulder for California. His completely unexpected death had an enormously painful impact on both of us, as well as others in the circle of friends like Dawn and Rebecca. In dark and mysterious ways his suicide contributed to Daniel's own deep despair about life, especially because it had undercurrents of emerging homosexual feelings against a protestant belief system. For many of us in the Boulder community, Daniel's later attempt was a second sign that society had become too poisonous for beautiful, complex souls to survive.

2) I hoped to see some of Daniel's original artwork reprinted in the book, because his images are even more moving than his words. Especially his pen and ink renderings, and the drawings he created while in the Peace Corps in Ecuador. I hope somebody will take them out of my guest room closet, scan them, and with Daniel's permission put them online for the whole world to see.

3) Because of his keen mind and scholarly background, Daniel has been asked to edit the works of other authors in fields like anthropology, archaeoastronomy, sociology and religion. He perceives, thinks and talks much like a new Joseph Campbell, and so his feedback is cherished.

4) My wife Dorina Krusemer-Nash observed, "When I first met Daniel we didn't get along and frankly I didn't like him. He was depressed, sullen and bitter. But when he came back to Moab, after finally quitting money, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off of his spirit, and he was light, energetic and funny." Dorina's perspective brings up an enormous social issue: What is the relationship between rampant, clinical depression, our mass addiction to anti-depressant medications, and economic injustice in a capitalistic society? What toll does it take on each of us, and on our world, when so many of us feel forced into a lifetime of near slavery wages to pay for groceries, health care and (if lucky enough) a mortgage? What affect does it have on a generation of young people to see that our system gives the greatest financial rewards to the greediest, and million dollar bonuses to fatcats who have grown "too big to fail?" In my experience, those those who hide or deny their feelings about an economic system gone mad eventually end up on Prozac.

CONCLUSION:

The book is great! Buy it and enjoy it. Here is my personal conclusion about Daniel and his life. It was published on the Matador Change website in 2009, after an article that openly wondered if Daniel was a "mooch" on society. Although the question raised my hackles, the posts on that article were noticeably less hostile and more thoughtful than posts to other online articles, so Daniel and I both contributed to the thread. Because the "mooching" question is the first reaction so many people have when they read about him, I conclude this review with a heartfelt response:

"Although Daniel tries never to barter, at one level he does participate in the same kind of barter system known for centuries to Franciscan and Buddhist monks. His mere presence in our house adds rich value to the quality of life that my wife and I enjoy. He brings peace with him wherever he goes. We adore him, and so do all of our animals, whom he often 'babysits' when we travel. You could even say our many dozens of organic fruit and nut trees adore Daniel. He has helped prune and cultivate them over the years, thoroughly enjoyed long afternoon naps in a hammock in their fragrant shade, and savored their bounty with a kind of deep, mystical appreciation that few of us humans ever really feel.

"If anyone could call Daniel a 'mooch' it would be me and Dorina because our home (and refrigerator) are always and unconditionally open to him. Yet we have never felt mooched, or taken advantage of. Quite the opposite, we look forward to his arrivals, feel enriched during his stays and, like our dogs, we are saddened by his departures. After wiping a few counters, we often find extra food he left behind. Daniel is not a weight on society, holding us all back, making us work harder to support his loafing, as the word 'mooch' implies. Instead, he is more like a quiet angel who asks for nothing, but lifts us all up gently with his peacefulness, kindness, cantankerous humor and nature-based wisdom.

"Maybe it's time to turn around the question of 'mooching.' How many people in the world who enjoy great material wealth also have an endless supply of love, wisdom, inner peace and happiness that they share freely with everyone around them? Daniel has made many brave decisions and great personal sacrifices in his life to follow Christ's teachings and trust the Holy Spirit to guide him. As a result, he has become a visionary and saintly person, a humble hobo who happens to have direct, broadband access to God. Now the rest of us get to 'mooch' off of his free internet wi-fi connection to heaven whenever he is around."

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is not very often I review a book, and even rarer for me to give a bad review. However, after reading the description on the back of the book at the time of purchase, and then reading to page 155 of 258, I feel quite deceived by the marketing of this book. The description leads you to believe this book will focus on Daniel Suelo's life from approximately Autumn of 2000 through now and how he has managed to get by and live without using currency. This is covered primarily in the first couple of chapters only. The remainder of the book's 12 chapters give a detailed history of Daniel's life, beginning with his parents upbringing. The book talks quite a bit about Daniel's religious upbringing and relious views throughout his 40+ years and also his romatic life (lack there of until later in life).

This book might still be an interesting read for those interested in Daniel's religious and romantic life-- but if you were interested in how he gets by without money and/or what it is like to reside in a national park- you will not find that in this book, despite what the back cover suggests.

[Ryandake · Rating 3 out of 5]

i want to talk about this book just as a book (not talking about the philosophy or actions of the actual Man Who Quit Money), because i want to be respectful of the author's effort without getting sidetracked into arguing (with myself!) about the Man's philosophy.

this book is a biography of sorts of a man--Daniel Suelo--who in 2000 decided to give up living on the money economy altogether. the author follows Suelo from his youth as the son of christian evangelists, through some unusual formative experiences, and to his grand decision to divorce himself from his inherited position as Economic Man.

Suelo's choice is going to be very hard for a lot of readers to understand (both the how and, more pointedly, the why), and author Sundeen does a pretty good job, i think, of making Suelo's decisions and turnings clear, and in charting the evolution of Suelo's thinking. Suelo's philosophies spring from common roots, but have been nurtured and pruned in some interesting ways, and Sundeen keeps us following the bouncing ball with no trouble. it's a job well done, here--keeping us clued in to Suelo's deeply radical thinking while making the man himself a whole person, not merely a catalogue of philosophical tracts.

i for one cannot walk away from this book without feeling like i know something about what moves Suelo, nor without some respect for the difficult path he's chosen. again, kudos to the author for that--without wanting to make a horrid pun, it is a very difficult sell in America to convince a readership that a man who gives up money is not a lunatic.

but clearly Suelo is not a lunatic, just a very, very committed man.

all the stars in this review go for the success of that effort.

but! Sundeen has a terrible habit of intruding himself into Suelo's story--not in the parts where the author's and subject's lives mix, that i could totally understand--but in his endless joseph campbell references (enough already!) and his clear hero-worship.

i like my biographers to at least pretend to be impartial. but for all the Hero's Journey references and the comparisons to the life of Jesus, you'd think that Suelo was divine. i wonder at Sundeen's inability to let Suelo's actions and words speak for themselves, without projecting these useless fripperies onto Suelo.

that's where the other two review stars went.

having said that, allow me to contradict myself on one specific: there's a lovely scene toward the end of the book where the author finds himself contemplating a used plastic baggie too icky to wash out. and he does walk the reader, in a quite lovely and unselfconscious way, through the alternatives (and their consequences) of what to do with that icky plastic bag. if you've ever found yourself in a similar situation, you will understand immediately the very serious moral dilemma posed--how can we live a moral life without solutions as extreme as Suelo's?

Sundeen has done a mighty fine job of leading the reader to confront their own icky plastic baggies. kudos to him for that. agree or disagree with Suelo's philosophy, this is not a book you will forget any time soon.

now! if you're not wholeheartedly sick of my blather, you can click here to read my thoughts on Suelo's philosophy.

[Ancient Weaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been following Suelo's blog and website (Moneyless World - Free World - Priceless World and Living Without Money) for years, now, and it's great to see that somebody finally wrote a book detailing more of his life's story.

Suelo is one of my heroes. He's not just a man of ideas, he's a man who's trying to live out his ideas in the real world. People might think he's crazy, but he's managed to live the way he has chosen to live for over a decade.

The Man Who Quit Money is about the journey of someone coming to understand that that money system and The Free Market are a scam, salvation via technology is a delusion, consumerism is slavery to a modern idol, that we choose to live trapped, isolated, and unhappy lives in a dysfunctional system for no good reason, and that there are livable alternative ways of life available. If only I had the courage to follow in his footsteps...

There's a lot of new info here in this book about Suelo's life beyond what he's posted on his blogs, so even if you're familiar with his online writings, this book is still worth reading.

[Mathew Gross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Reminiscent of Elizabeth Gilbert's "The Last American Man," it's a wonderful biography of a man who chooses to live his life on the frontiers of a simple question: What would it mean to live a life without money? While the subject is Daniel Suelo, most readers (I believe) will find the book raises broader questions about their own relationship to work, compensation, and happiness. Thoroughly entertaining and deeply philosophical, this is the type of book that you'll want to thrust into the hands of your friends -- and then eagerly await the contentious and lovely conversations that will inevitably follow. It has enjoyed tremendous early success; as a work of non-fiction biographical narrative, it stands with the best. (Full disclosure: I know both the author and the subject of this book personally.)

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Daniel Suelo, who gave up money completely in order to live unencumbered by the false world of finance and the daily American rat race. He's done not too badly living within the parameters he has set for himself: he accepts no money and accepts only such goods and services that are freely given. Sometimes this means that he forages for food along the highways or in dumpsters. Home is frequently a contrived shelter concealed on public land.

The book is enjoyable, very readable, and I was left with the feeling that nothing was concealed from the reader. While I admire Suelo's courage, I was left wondering if he had really accomplished his goal, or if he might be fudging it a bit. If he hitch-hikes, someone pays for the fuel and the upkeep of the vehicle. Should a friend treat him to a concert or buy him a beer, he will do so with no reasonable expectation that Suelo will reciprocate; Suelo is perpetually and permanently broke, you see. There is a bit of the cadger tainting his claims to freedom from monetary stain. He is not a shiftless bum, however, and will work, sometimes for extended periods, so long as no pay is involved.

Suelo is not a hermit; he keeps in touch with a circle of friends. He dwells in the deserts and forests in whatever free habitation is available, often a cave. It is certainly not a lifestyle that could be sustainable everywhere or in every climate.

I think Suelo's lifestyle may be the only way that one can be free in this era of intrusive government. He has no identification, no job to be fired from, no property to be seized. He could, in theory, be arrested for vagrancy, but this would be a temporary thing and he would have room and board for his detention. He need fear no taxman or bailiff or ambulance-chasing lawyer; he has nothing to take, nothing to lose. As Mr Sundeen wrote on page 234:


I resolved to withhold federal income tax, even ready, like Thoreau, to spend a night in jail. But consequences for such civil disobedience have increased by Draconian orders of magnitude since the 1840s: instead of a sleepover in the village clink, Uncle Sam would confiscate my home, fine me one hundred grand, and lock me in prison for five years. This was a sacrifice I was unwilling to make.

When you think about it, people like Suelo are the last free people in North America. The rest of us are tied to jobs and mortgages and obligations. If the crash comes, and many think it will, Suelo's life will be unchanged.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An honorable story about a man who goes on a Waldenistic quest to be independent of money. Socially awkward as a kid, ideologically obstinate as an adult, raised within a Christian fundamentalist family, Daniel Suelo (not his real last name, by the way. His real last name is mentioned in the book), decided to let go of what felt like money shackles maybe, and live a life in caves.

At first you read thinking that financial independence is what Suelo seeks, because who doesn't want that, right? Then you learn that what Suelo really hates is money, or the thought of it. There is a scene where he is waiting for a ride with a friend and thinks about gas and the idea that they would have to find money somehow in order to buy gas. After waiting too long, the friend volunteers his money for gas and this is how they continue. But wait, money is still used somehow isn't it? Money is still used to buy the food that goes to food banks where Suelo must sometimes eat (though there are encouraging moments where he lives off watermelons and other fruits).

To hate the thought of ever carrying money, to refrain from ever having to use money in any way, is to live a life constantly at odds with a society that values money. This, Suelo discovered as he dumpster-picked unopened packages of eggs, etc, as he did work for non-profit organizations in exchange for food, and later when he was asked by Mark Sundeen (the author) whether he would rather die than pay $100 for medical care at a hospital and he said he would rather die.

This is where I started to feel like Suelo's sister-in-law when she said that although the family had similar thoughts to Suelo's, they also thought he was a bit radical in his approach. He would rather die than spend money to get better? And a few near-death experiences he did indeed have. Suelo was also very opinionated. But a moocher or bum like the critics on his website seemed to be calling him? No. You don't get that at all. Though he was given, this guy did indeed give.

Sundeen didn't seem to really redeem the subject of his book though. The likeability factor was missing. Sure, there are a lot of things I respect about Suelo, yet there weren't moments where I felt as if I understood him, or that I even read the book and came away knowing the guy. I learned that Suelo had struggles with sexuality and goal-setting, yes. He was also a bit of a recluse. Yet there also seemed to be a great distance between author and subject. You don't get an idea of how long Sundeen followed Suelo, who was his former schoolmate by the way, but somehow it feels as if their interaction consisted of brief intervals and that the rest of the time, Sundeen was collecting quotes and information from family and friends. So at times, the ebb and flow of parts of the narrative seemed like a bumpy ride where potholes were stuffed with researched materials.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I DO NOT like Daniel Suelo. This guy is Freddy Freeloader. His quest to give up money would be a lot more admirable if he didn't let others take him out to dinner, sleep at their homes and dumpster dive for things that other people paid for. If he lived only off the land, grew his own food, hunted, made his clothing, then he could really say he's the man that lives without money. He's not.

The cover of the book that he "walked away from his life savings" was misleading. It was $30. Had he walked away from a real job, real savings, etc, then this could be looked at as admirable. But I don't think Daniel Suelo could really make it in the real world and that is why he put his $30 in a phone booth and became this "icon".

I think he's a very smart guy that was depressed, lost in the world, had no direction and didn't want any responsibility. He's smart because he realized that he could spout a bunch of philosophical BS to make people think he was doing something different than just living off of others.

I know he toots the fact that he takes no taxpayer or government handouts. Yet he runs a blog from the public library. I thought that we as taxpayers paid for the library. So if he is using the electricity, computer, internet at the library, he is using taxpayer dollars.

I enjoyed the author's telling of this story up until the end. At that point he told so many stories that Suelo had relayed to him, it got silly. Suelo makes himself out to be some hero, some man that is more moral and ethical than monks or buddhists. Some of his adventures needed some major fact checking, not just the word of a many who seems to be missing a few marbles.

Sorry to those of you that are on my friends list that really liked this guy, but I didn't!

[Melody · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I expected from the cover. I was looking to read about the mechanics of living without money, and about what exactly Suelo's life is like. Instead I got a well-researched but pedestrian chronicle of a fundamentalist Christian's upbringing and philosophy with a side of living without money. At the end of the book, I just don't care. Not even a little bit.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Daniel Suelo will linger with you long after you finish this book. His refusal to participate in the money system - he neither works for wages nor accepts any kind of government assistance - draws frequent criticism from those who do not look deep enough. Your tax dollars are not supporting him. Nor does he pay taxes. He does not live in a homeless shelter. He does not eat in soup kitchens. He sleeps in caves and eats only what he can gather.

Religious fervor played a pivotal role in his choices - he was raised in a fundamentalist Christian family and, later in life, studied Buddhism in the East. He became disillusioned by how easily both Christianity and Buddhism overlook what Jesus and the Buddha had to say about money and possessions.

We talk a good game about family, friends, community, God, whatever, but take a step back from our lives and the truth revealed is that most of what we do, day after day, serves the money system. And most of the money system is an illusion, smoke and mirrors maintained through the accumulation of debt.

Few will walk their own mile in Daniel's moccasins, but his story does call into question much of what we believe we "have to do" to get by in life. It calls into question why we typically choose to thump one passage in a Holy Book (usually a passage that makes us feel better than others) while refusing to even glance at the abundance of passages in the same book that require us to abandon our love of money.

Highly recommended.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daniel Suelo is a dumpster-diving, cave-dwelling, money-shunning philosopher. Rock on, brother.

People who disapprove of his lifestyle claim he is a moocher, but that argument is insupportable. He gets nearly everything he uses from dumpsters, including food, clothing, the thermarest he sleeps on, and even a pair of binoculars. This is stuff that would end up in the landfill, so he's not taking anything away from others. He doesn't take advantage of government handouts such as food stamps and welfare, because they involve money.

Suelo's purpose is not work avoidance, but renouncing participation in the money system. He works very hard, but refuses a paycheck. One summer he worked on a fishing boat in Alaska. The other crew member earned $10,000 that summer. Suelo accepted no money for his work.
So, is he a little odd? Yes. Is he a moocher? No. The guy even eats roadkill.

This is a quick read. I finished it in two days. Much of the book is devoted to various life experiences that led to Daniel's current choices, so be prepared to read more about his biography than about how he lives now. I could have done without most of the religious exploration, but I suppose it's essential to an understanding of who he is now and what shaped his hierarchy of values.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was real skeptical of this book when I received it as a gift. I started reading it during lulls at work because I figured it would be pretty light reading. I was correct that it is not a mind melter or anything that you have to think too hard about. But the message and the road that Suelo took to where he is today is pretty incredible.

I am thankful to Suelo for showing us all what is possible with a little bit of conviction and faith. His existence also points out the mass hypocrisy of American Christianity. The book does an excellent job of guiding the reader through the progression of the psychology behind what Suelo is doing with his life.

He is a good example of what is on the opposite end of the spectrum from fat cat wasteful greedy selfish billionaires. I never want to be one of those guys. I would for sure go live in a cave in the desert before I became that. At the same time, I haven't sold all of my things and stuck my thumb out on the on ramp yet. But this book gave me some reasonable goals. I do want to reduce my consumption and reduce my spending to a point.

Suelo just teaches us that we can be happy with less. Not only that, but having less may actually be more conducive to happiness. I haven't seen a review mention yet that a major role in Suelo's decision to give up money for good was an intense and accidental experience on some hallucinogen he ate in the desert. That is profound to me, having just read The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross. Suelo is trying to practice his religion accurately, as he saw it.

[Rick Pozeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely intriguing story about a man who gave it all up, to not merely sleep walk through life in a cubicle behind a computer screen. Daniel Suelo has lived a league of lives. A life that is certainly unpredictably, an adrenaline rush each day. I applaud and respect this man so much for doing what he does and for having the guts to explore the world without any money. How many people can write a story about their lives the way Suelo can? I may not give up all my life savings the way that he did but it inspires me so much more to just live a more decent and dignified life with only the things that I absolutely need. It has always been the small things in life that matter anyways.
Some may say that he is a freeloader but I believe his heart is in the right place. He is constantly giving back to the community and the people that cross paths with him. Whether it is through the shelters he helps to serve people or through his pure philosophical moral ideals about life, he has given back to people far beyond than people have given to him.
Life is more than the accumulation of wealth and material items. When you die you cannot take it with you. The only thing that you can leave behind is the legacy of the good deeds you have done and the things you did to make the world a better place. He has touched a myriad of lives throughout his journey and I'm sure that is more than most people can say.

A true principle; do good for others without expecting anything in return.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

”I know it is possible to live with zero money,” Suelo declares. “Abundantly.”

In the year 2000, at the age of 39, Daniel Shellabarger placed his last thirty dollars inside a phone booth and has since been purposefully living without money. He has continued to work and volunteer for organizations he believes are beneficial though he accepts no pay. If they offer him food he accepts, but only as a gift, not as compensation. He refuses to be paid for anything he does and simply provides for others as he can and accepts the support of others as they can. He lives entirely in the present, taking things as they come, pursuing interests he has, and only seeking the necessities for himself: food, shelter, clothing, and warmth. By living in such a studious way with his surroundings, and in being a tenant to both the Earth and the people around him, he eventually adopted the moniker ‘Suelo’ (Spanish for soil) based on a saying he uses to guide his life - ‘All Soil is Sacred’.

He eats by taking what others have discarded. He asks for food at restaurants or grocers, accepting leftovers and scraps; receives food from friends, charities, and good Samaritans, and often dumpster-dives. He states we are a nation of such surplus that, very literally, tons of food are thrown into the trash daily, food that could easily be utilized by the communities in which it is discarded, but otherwise is not. Though he moves from place to place without a permanent dwelling, Suelo is not a despondent transient, merely bumming meals from communities and roaming without care or interest. He continues to educate himself by collecting discarded books; visits and serves community centers where he converses with people of classes; cooks in food kitchens; occasionally works on farms that grow food for the poor; and maintains a philosophical blog here which chronicles his endeavor.

To many, particularly those raised in the American system of wealth, pride, and independent living, this may seem a terribly humbling and demeaning way of living. For Suelo, this is a spiritual pursuit that was born of his quest for truth, and his disillusion of a society that praises money over people, making the pursuit of wealth its focus, and its god.

”This is a nation that professes to be a Christian nation,” he tells me, surveying his temporary kingdom. “And yet it’s basically illegal to live according to the teachings of Jesus.”

Despite having been raised in a fundamental Christian home, he has spent a great many years pursuing a number of spiritual sources. He’s visited a host of churches, spent time in a monastery, researched Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and even sought out and talked with the Dalai Lama. Over the course of his journeys he has come to a specific truth that he continues to choose for his life today – that of nonpossession. The Man Who Quit Money is one author’s attempt to explore and understand Suelo’s vision, and share it with the rest of us.

As Suelo sees it, through his readings of the holy texts as well as the philosophies of Tolstoy, Thoreau, and Ghandi, “All these separate, distant Scriptures and authors agree: the way of truth is the way of nonpossession.” Poverty is my pride, says Mohammed. Let us live happily, then though, we call nothing our own, says the Buddha. If you want to be perfect, teaches Jesus, go, sell what you have and give to the poor. As Suelo interprets this: “Basically the greatest sage is at the very bottom of the social scale – a bum.” An enlightened man has freed himself from both debt and credit.

Suelo firmly believes that the monetary system has evolved into something that dominates our lives, forcing us to be so focused on our debt and our credit that it consumes, divides, and impoverishes us. Furthermore, he suggests that it creates a wide-spread illusion that, with enough money, we can somehow control our own future and destiny, forgetting and foregoing God altogether.

”Our whole society is designed so that you have to have money,” Suelo says. “You have to be a part of the capitalist system. It’s illegal to live outside of it.”

As someone who lives inside the same society that Suelo does, I can’t disagree with him. America is most certainly the land of excess. It’s not good enough to have a car, or to own a house, or to have money in your savings account – it’s the newest and biggest car you should have, and a spacious mansion with sprawling acreage, and a million dollar 401k that you need. But who can save money when there’s always a new television, new computer, new ipad, new video game, new special collector’s edition of your favorite show, bigger and better car or truck, better gym membership, more inclusive insurance policy, higher speed internet, new sports memorabilia, amazing vacation to take, new fashion to stay up to date with, new song to download, etc., etc.?

Frankly, I’m not too far off from Suelo’s line of thinking when it comes to possession and America’s obsession with it, and I don’t think obsession is too strong a word for this behavior. I receive mass junk mailings regularly, suffer telemarketing phone calls that I continue to block, and am bombarded by commercials and salespeople. Anything I type into a search engine, or browse through on the internet, or even ‘mark-as-read’ here on Goodreads is crawled by marketers and utilized to create an advertising profile for me for the soul purpose of getting me to buy more. It seems that everyone wants your money, and they will hound you until they get it. Or until you disappear from that world entirely.

Similar to Suelo’s view on the matter, it disgusts me.

It would seem that being satisfied with what you have, and settling for a completely operable and usable ‘second-tier’ product instead of the newest and best is considered either failure, or fault. When merely being satisfied with the tremendous excess that is already present is practically virtue, then there exists no yard-stick by which we can measure how far we’ve fallen.

With all that said, I’m not looking to make this review a diatribe on the affairs of our nation, though I think my viewpoint on the matter certainly helps those reading this understand why I chose to read the book after stumbling upon it, and why I agree with Suelo on the issue. It’s also the very heart of the matter – it’s why Suelo made the decision to forego money altogether. To discuss this book is to examine the very philosophy of economy and its position in our lives. To overlook it and focus entirely on Suelo is to completely miss the conversation in which this book is dipping its toes. While I don’t agree with everything he says or does, he does touch on a widespread cultural acceptance of ‘more and bigger is better’, and ‘money equals safety and success’.

”Before, my hardships were long-term, complex anxieties,” he says: “What am I going to do with my life, how am I going to pay rent or pay insurance, what’s retirement going to be like, what am I going to do for a career, what are people going to think if I do this or that? To me that stuff is actually unbearable. And I think most people are dealing with it. Now my hardships are simple and immediate: food, shelter, and clothing. They’re manageable because they’re in the present.

While the book is biographical, the philosophical discussions are its greatest asset. Sundeen, the author, does manage to present Suelo as the complicated individual that he is. Much of Suelo’s history, such as his upbringing, professional experience prior to his decision, and how he lives his life after he ‘quit’ money are interesting and applicable to the overall narrative. There are stretches that felt unnecessary, disjointed, and were generally presented in a rambling manner where the author expounds on historic details regarding currency, extraneous bits about Suelo’s interactions with family and friends, or in sections on Suelo’s romantic life and his struggle with his sexuality. Some chapters felt as if they were uncertain as to what they wanted to say or present, bouncing back and forth from philosophy to personal details with nothing to tie them together. The book is foremost about Suelo, not just his philosophy, so I can’t argue against including details the author may have deemed necessary; such things can help paint the complete portrait of an individual, though I think they could have been presented in a more coherent or streamlined fashion.

”Usually people are really nice. They are so glad they can give something. They smile. They go in the back and load up a plate. But sometimes I get, ‘Fuck off. Get out of here.’”

“Is that humiliating?” I asked.

“Sometimes it is. That’s part of the path, being able to walk away without reaction.”

Suelo proves to be an interesting man. He talks a great deal about his faith, and about his spiritual path. The entire decision of relinquishing the chains of money were just one more step on his path to spiritual enlightenment. When Suelo makes a comment about being turned off by a community because they aren’t refined enough, the author, confused, responds by stating “You live in a cave. How can you complain that other men aren’t refined?” Suelo: “My idea of refinement is someone who can stand on their own, without all these fluffy comforts. When I think of refinement, I think of ore refined through the fire, all the excess is burned off. Just the gold.”

The only way for him to live ethically in this corrupt world, he felt – the only way to access that eternal present that he’d found in the monastery –was to abandon money. Suelo wanted neither to owe nor to be owed. In the words of Christianity, he wanted the Lord to forgive him his debts, and he forgave his debtors. In the words of the Bhagavad Gita, he wanted to release himself from the fruits of his labor. To give freely without expectation of receiving. Only then could he break free of the Western concept of linear time. Credit and debt kept us fixated on the past and the future. In the words of the Buddha, Suelo wanted to cut the tangle of attachments, to break the circle of reincarnation and dwell in the eternal present.

He compares credit and debt to an attempt at controlling time. Debt forces us to atone for our past by controlling our present, while working to gain income and credit is an attempt to control the course of our own future. Being locked into one or the other creates a series of demands that can lead to worry and to fear things entirely out of our control. He says that the future is God’s to handle, and when we attempt to manage it ourselves we are playing God, to our detriment.

”I guess that’s where what people might call the superstitious, the religious part, comes in,” he said. “If we’re following our path, then worrying about what could or should happen is a worse illness than what could or should happen. And it’s more likely we’re going to be out of balance if we worry. The idea is that the future will take care of itself if we remain in the present. I really don’t know what I’ll do and I don’t think about it that much. Some might call that irresponsible. But that’s part of the path I’m on.”

The Man Who Quit Money is an interesting, and rambling memoir, tracing its way through Daniel Suelo’s life; his spiritual journey, his philosophy, his daily pursuits and occasionally strays into his romantic life. It’s presented in a non-cohesive and sporadic format, with some rough segues that left me asking a lot of questions. I think the book may be worth reading, particularly for the exploration and chronicling of his spiritual journey. I’d recommend it to those interested in seeing how someone troubled by the state of greed in American can forego the system altogether, becoming someone who lives entirely in the present, and who can still place an emphasis on giving to others while simultaneously depending on them to survive.

For a fairly exhaustive and well-presented viewpoint of Suelo’s philosophy you can watch this video, where Suelo himself presents the material.

”I don’t expect everybody to live in a cave and dumpster-dive,” he says. “I do implore everybody to take only what they know in their own hearts that they need, and give up excess to those who have less than they need. If this happened, I certainly wouldn’t have to dumpster-dive.”

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is NOT a how-to on how you can live without money. If you thought that was the case, you would be sadly mistaken.

The Man Who Quit Money is actually the true story of a man who drops out of regular society and lives in a cave in Utah. While he does in fact live without money, he still is a productive member of society - he gives his time and energy to worthy causes and friends. He rarely takes anything in return.

He lives off of food he harvests food from the area around his cave as well as dumpster diving.

While his commitment to living without money is admirable, I can't help but think that the way he is going about it couldn't be done in another culture. We are a wasteful culture all ready and I am glad that he takes advantage of it, but it seems silly at times - what does he hope to really accomplish?

There is something that bothers me about his story. He is a man who has attempted to commit suicide, a closeted gay man in a fundamentalist family who was at first less than understanding, and a man who seems to have trouble with having physical relations with people. To me, Suelo actually seems extremely sad and his getting away from money is also a way to keep a tight control on a reality that he has created.

His story in the hands of someone else would have a very different slant to it.

I think it is an interesting read and it makes you mindful of things like - maybe you shouldn't throw out so much food and only buy what you need. Maybe coveting material goods isn't really healthy and you should look for something else to put your energy into.

There is a LOT of religious soul-searching that happens over the course of the book, so if that bothers you this is not the book for you.

*** = glad I read it.

Copy provided by GoodReads First Reads Program

[Brad Kittle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not good at book reviews, so this will be quick. This book was very interesting to me because I've been thinking a lot about money, poverty, corporate greed and US imperialism and exploitation of the 3rd world. My view on these matters has completely changed, or, in reality, I came to have a more informed view about these topics. Also, I am always interested in spiritual topics in general; so, this book was easy to read. I'm a Christian and understand some of the feelings and beliefs expressed in the book, but I'm more anchored in a personal relationship with Jesus. I really didn't choose to have a relationship with The Lord, He definitely chose me, so although I understand the struggles and beliefs of Daniel and agree with many of his insights, I do embrace a more personal belief in Jesus and experience the reality of the Holy Spirit in my life. Jesus is more than a set of teaching and life principals, He is the well spring of life and the animating life within me, a believer. I can truly understand the rejection of the fundamentalist message Daniel was raised with and the hypocrisy and superficial nature of much that claims the name of Christ. I have a lot of sympathy for that message and enjoyed this book, in part, because of that. It's a hard book to recommend to my Christian friends and not one I'd necessarily recommend to everyone. I think I got a lot out of the idea that someone really rejected the monetary system we are born in to and learned from how he fared in the process. I think you could call the monetary system of this world Babylon, as the author did on at least one occasion. I could go in so many directions in this review, so many ideas in the book to look at. I didn't mean to write this much!

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this more interesting than inspiring - I'm just too much of a capitalist. I took issue with some of Suelo's justifications. He continually references a Bible verse about the birds of the air not storing food or worrying and that God will always provide. Well, actually...the birds of the air do in fact cache food. He also scavenges others' cast offs and accepts shelter/meals from those who offer - if everyone lived in his idealistic and lean fashion, there would be nothing to throw away and no resources to spare. His lifestyle is dependent those who remain part of the machine. I appreciate the exploration of our frighteningly commerce dependent society, and I think Sundeen did an amazing job of researching and presenting Suelo's story, but I'll keep my paycheck, thanks.

[Deirdre K · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book club pick that I'm glad I read. Maybe I should bump the stars up because I'm glad I got to know the character of Daniel as presented in this book (someone I had only known by sight in our little town) and I loved the questions the book made me think about during the week or so it took to read.

I found the second half of the book to be less about Daniel and more influenced by the author's own philosophy or perspective (on numerous things, not just money). And I can't help wishing there were more details on the actual daily survival that Daniel faces.

Lots of great discussions with friends and family about money and faith and carving out your own path in life this week, thanks to this book. But the lasting impression I have is that you can take the boy out of the fundamentalist church but it is hard to take the fundamentalist out of the boy. It appeared that Daniel transferred the zealotry of his youth to a new demon, this time money, and that he approaches it with a bit of that same judgmental black-and-white perspective that I associate with fundamentalism.

At the same time, he also came across as a fascinating person who is really designing the life he wants according to his own rules, and doing nothing to harm others while doing so---and for those reasons, he has my respect and admiration.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this book was everything I was hoping it would be and more. It's kind of like Into the Wild on steroids. It contains a nice amount of religious/spiritual insight into Daniel Suelo's life, added with a nice dash of his struggles with money and capitalism, balanced together with enough philosophy to keep everything interesting.

The book is keenly written (great job Mark Sundeen), and keeps the reader very much involved with the content. If you enjoy memoirs, religion, philosophy, financial issues, etc. you'll enjoy this book.

The thing I admire about works/accounts like this is the simplicity it communicates. I don't mean the work is simply, nor do I mean it's easy to read. I mean Daniel Suelo's life has been pared down to the lowest common denominator—simplicity. I'm working on paring down my own life and attempting to live instead of letting society live my life for me. This is especially true for my work environment. My job dictates when I wake, when I go to bed, what days I'm off, what days I work, when I take a vacation, etc. In other words my employer is dictating my life. That has to stop. Reading accounts like these make me reassess my life, my hours, my savings, my whole outlook on life, money, etc.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Where I'm at currently in life, it speaks volumes.

[Laura Finazzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of Mark Sundeen’s account of the revolutionary lifestyle and philosophy of Daniel Suelo was what first caught my eye. The Man Who Quit Money. At once, a concept that is entirely unfathomable but deeply alluring. A glance at the cover photograph of the man himself, Mr. Suelo, further captivated my attention. With an easy smile on his face, Buddy Holly-style glasses, and shaggy salt and pepper hair emerging from a friendly bolera hat, Daniel Suelo looks the part of the gracefully aging, Pacific Northwestern hipster. Though he is certainly not someone I would categorize as trendy after having learned about him, Daniel certainly embodies certain of the more intriguing aspects of self-righteous hipster culture but on an entirely different level.

Sundeen’s book is, as its title suggests, the story of a man who renounced currency, both the give and take of money in all its forms, including charity and government benefits predicated upon taxpayer dollars. How he manages to do it still boggles my mind (more on the logistics later). But Daniel Suelo’s commitment to a moneyless existence was not an experiment in poverty, an attempt to see how the other half lives, nor a concerted effort to reduce his carbon footprint, though he certainly did so in the process.

Raised a fundamentalist Christian, Daniel Suelo was a follower of Jesus from a young age and believed in the Bible in its most literal sense. Though he doesn’t look the part of it today, Suelo actually continues to lead a life fairly aligned with the religious values upon which he was raised. One of my favorite Suelo-isms from the book relates to the contradictory nature of religion in the United States. “This is a nation that professes to be a Christian nation… and yet it’s basically illegal to live according to the teachings of Jesus.” Suelo questions the concept of free will, believing in a purposeful God that provides for the needs of humans and all living creatures such that we don’t need to rely upon consuming in the traditional big box store, supermarket fashion to survive. He comes back again and again to the Biblical passage, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat of drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” It is this unyielding faith that led Suelo to leave his last $30.00 in a phone booth and give up money for good thirteen years ago.

Suelo’s life seems to have reached a content stasis once he gave up money. But the principled, rugged picture of Daniel Suelo that Sundeen draws for readers at the beginning of his book is the product of religious questioning, travels the world over, family struggles, and a battle against deep depression. The journey that brought Suelo to his current philosophy is a beautiful one, well-told under Sundeen’s hand. What I find most fascinating, however, are the tenets of that philosophy and how brilliantly they highlight the struggles inherent in any attempt to lead a good and moral life in the US.

“The more people have, the less they give. Similarly, generous cultures produce less waste because excess is shared, whereas stingy nations fill their landfills with leftovers.” Suelo’s experiences lead him to such a conclusion and I don’t know if truer words could ever be spoken. For some time Suelo struggled to live within the confines of capitalism, recognizing the way in which it was nearly illegal to avoid the use of money. As Sundeen aptly points out, the monetary system by itself creates loads of anxiety for people, from taxes to mortgages to the regular outflow of cash required to clothe, feed, bathe, and care for ourselves. For people who try to lead simple and moral lives within this anxiety-ridden capitalist culture, people who make those small changes like buying local, driving less, purchasing high-efficiency appliances, reusing and recycling, the anxiety is twofold. Not only do they struggle under the expenses of everyday life that we all face, they are also cognizant of the environmental and moral repercussions of each and every decision they make. Sure, reusing a plastic baggie keeps one more item out of the landfill, but we’re still using a disposable item made of plastic that will ultimately never completely disintegrate (a major moral struggle that Sundeen devotes quite some time to recounting in this book).

The beauty of Suelo’s lifestyle is that he escapes both of these struggles unscathed by eliminating money’s presence from his life. One of my favorite moments in the book comes when Suelo gives up those last $30.00. He thought his life couldn’t get much worse at that point, then realized that the money did not make a bit of difference. He was already at his lowest point with money, how much worse could it get without that measly sum wearing him down? The onrush of freedom he experienced by setting down those bills, by letting go of the confines of a monied mentality, was euphoric just to read.

And now Daniel is a practiced dumpster-diver, a go-to house-sitter among his friends, a cave dweller, an expert forager, and a faithful servant of God – all without a cent to his name. Dwelling in the caves of Moab, Utah, Suelo avoids the worries and fears that go with owning land and a house and all the possessions inside. By scavenging the area’s dumpsters, he reduces the size of our landfills, prevents perfectly good consumables from going to waste, and challenges notions of socially acceptable eating practices. His life offers a perfect exemplar of presence, the kind pursued by practitioners of meditation and followers of many Eastern religions alike, since he has nothing to worry about beyond the present moment. He enjoys free meals with friends, finds beauty in the natural world, and has absolutely no notion of private property.

But what may be most empowering of all is the sense of community Suelo has found, despite leading a lifestyle that at first glance appears reclusive. Quitting money proves, ultimately, to be a persuasive argument against the pull yourself up by your own bootstraps mentality in America. Suelo is convinced that no person is entirely self-sufficient; he understands the world as a series of interdependent beings, from his dependence on the waste of others as a source of nutrition to his provision of joy and free labor and knowledge and friendship to others. Not only is this a beautiful way to view the world, it is a productive and practical one too.

Some, probably many, would call Daniel Suelo naive, an idealist, a dreamer, a quack. The roll call of derogatory names for someone like Suelo is seemingly endless. And that is one of the most frustrating but also hopeful things about a story like Suelo’s. He defies categorization in ways that confuse people. His ideology is difficult to grasp because it so deeply challenges that of our society. He is misunderstood beyond compare. But he also is one of the most principled, righteous, admirable, inspiring people I have ever learned of. I love individuals that push the boundaries of possibility, that challenge us to rethink what is accepted and expected. I find hope in the fact that someone like Daniel Suelo exists and that he has found success in his life. And I pray that people will read this book and find something of themselves in Daniel, whether it be similar religious upbringing, a passion for the outdoors, past travels to the same locales, a history of debilitating depression, mastery of the meditative arts, or any other commonality. In so doing, maybe we can all learn from, if not begin to embody, Daniel Suelo’s mind bogglingly wonderful means of existence. In reading Sundeen’s book, Suelo becomes much more familiar and his lifestyle, far less frightening.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at a man living in America with no money. I've been reading lots of books lately about men on a quest to try wildly alternative means of living in present day America. I've been looking but haven't found any books about woman on the same path. If anyone knows of any I'd love to read it.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected. I read it for my book club so didn't know anything about the book except the title & the blurb on the back. I was expecting it to be focused on economics,politics & sociology but instead found myself reading a book mainly about religion. Huh. Ok. I can see that - it's easier for a rich man to pass through the eye of a needle rather than get into heaven etc. - but the book wasn't quite about the subject of poverty in religions either. It was a mishmash of biography, memoir about the author, the history of evangelical Christianity in the US and a summary of other various religions and towards the end a brief few pages about the political, economic & sociological issues surrounding the Freegan community and other related movements.

Honestly, I think the author did a lousy job outlining and organizing this book. I got the impression he was winging it, just writing whatever came to his mind. His editor did a TERRIBLE job not cleaning up the book. The author should have removed himself completely from the book - it took away from the story of his subject, Daniel. The author also should have provided footnotes for his many assertions. Quite often I found myself thinking, "Oh, really?" and stopping reading to go google something the author had written about.

The topic of this book was meant to be all about Daniel, "The man who quit money" - stress on "the man who quit money". Instead it was about Daniel's parents, and Daniel's religious upbringing, and Daniel's struggles with depression and Daniel's struggles with accepting himself as a gay man and the town of Moab, Utah and how groovy it is and various people that Daniel have known over the years. There was surprisingly little about living without money. There was so much build up in the book about how Daniel came to the decision to live without money and very little about Daniel actually living without money.

The most interesting parts of the book dealt with the supposed main topic - living without money. I wanted to hear more about Daniel's daily life - living in a cave in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to hear more about his plans for the future - living in a cave won't be so great when he is 70 or if he gets cancer or something. There was a brief mention at the beginning of the book about Daniel's rotting teeth which made me wonder how masochistic Daniel is. Not taking care of yourself by not going to the doctor and not bathing regularly and eating random food found in dumpsters and being outside in the elements all the time - I got the sense that Daniel hated his corporal self - that he was subconsciously punishing himself for being gay, for not being the kind of Christian he was raised to be. He wanted to be a soul, not a body. His celibacy, his virginity until his early thirties, the fact he only had 2 sexual relationships in his 50+ yrs alive struck me as part of this negation of the body. Living without money seemed to me to be Daniel's desire to not be part of this world.

I could not relate to this guy Daniel at all. I found his life to be incredibly depressing and lonely. I don't understand people who only see the negative, the ugliness of life. The whole "end-of-the-world-is-nigh" community simply boggles my mind. For thousands of years certain people have been convinced the world is going to end ANY MINUTE NOW! Um, we're still here! Daniel's community in Moab - and his evangelical family - believe the end days are almost here and are preparing accordingly. It's like they have given up on the world, on making the world a better place and are now just waiting to tell everyone "I told you so" when the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse show up. I do not get it.

Reading the book, I kept thinking of this scene from Monty Python.
"We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week...Oh Dennis, there's some lovely filth over here..."

[Stephany Wilkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in three days. I always bike or walk to work but took the train while reading this, just so I wouldn't have to put it down.

This is not just because I'm a fan of Mark Sundeen's writing for Outside or Daniel Suelo's blog, either. (I am, though, to the extent that when I saw Mark and Daniel at a reading for this book, I thanked Mark for his latest Outside article on an Iraq war vet and somehow ended up telling him where I'm from. What the hell? Let's just write that off to some nervous fangirl... thing.)

It's challenging to write a review for this book alone, because how we feel about it is tied up with how we feel about ourselves and the difference between how we live and how we really want to live. That's one of the things I like most about how Sundeen wrote this book: he didn't make it awkward by writing as some distanced observer attempting anthropological methods, but as a friend who writes about himself as part of the narrative, and thus as a human being who shares the reader's challenges.

One (funny, too) example of this is "the bit about the plastic bag" on pages 235-36: "Thermostats were adjusted, tires properly inflated, lightbulbs replaced... I pedaled my bike instead of driving... That plastic drift in the Pacific came to represent for me all that was wrong: thoughtless use of disposable products, profit-driven mass manufacture of toxic goods... But here was the problem: although these actions made sense, they didn't make me feel any less anxious, or more free. How many times have I stood at the kitchen sink paralyzed by a plastic baggie?... My instinct is to throw it away. But as we have learned, there is no "away." And son on, about washing the baggie, but the precious water one uses to wash the baggie is also resource depletion.

I mention this because I think most thoughtful people are stuck right there. That's me, at least dozens of times, every day. We try to continue living with behaviors and within a system that is absolutely out of line with our deepest beliefs and values, a state of perpetual dissonance we work hard to resolve (by washing plastic baggies and such). I may not be a religious person today, but I respect my Jesuit teachers (and what they taught me) enough to know that we cannot live the way we do and rationalize it to say that we're truly living as Christ wanted us to. It is simply not possible to benefit from the destruction of creation, the slave labor of others, and create climate change with our every waking minute and act and call it Christ-like.

But we try. As we know and Sundeen points out, we try to comfort ourselves by saying things like "Well, the world is different." But it's cold comfort, and temporary, and the dissonance always comes back. Few people are willing to tackle this problem honestly and acknowledge how difficult it is for some of us, let alone introduce someone like Suelo to show us what's possible in a way that is not dogmatic, but humble and beautiful and honest. But Sundeen does this, with great success, and with a different approach than other people trying to address our "dissonant lives" (Rev Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping is another making this effort).

You won't be sorry you read it. If nothing else, you'll know you don't struggle alone - but it will be harder to say "The world is different now" since Sundeen and Suelo show it isn't.

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Man Who Quit Money is a well-researched, clearly written, detailed, and compelling portrait of Daniel Suelo. Mark Sundeen could have easily settled for a long magazine essay on his subject, but I’m glad he didn’t. The tangents throughout—ranging from brief exegeses on religious texts and ideas to humorous asides about life in Moab—are not only enjoyable and enlightening, but they also lay a narrative groundwork for Suelo’s development.

As to Suelo’s philosophy: this is the third book in the past year that I’ve read that is concerned with a character (real or fictive) that has chosen to distinctly separate themselves, in one way or another, from our present society. The manner in which these individuals go about this are varied as are the degrees to which they are able to realize their ambitions. But I’ve noticed a common thread throughout all these texts: the cruciality of community. It seems to me that those who become "hermits" in an effort to check-out from life and society often fail, as no person is an island. The ultimate remedy to our societal apathy is to work to create and empower communities in which individuals can thrive and be engaged with one another.

This is what I appreciate most about Suelo. He’s giving up on our “money system,” but he’s not checking out at all—the contrary, rather. In eschewing what he sees as an illusion, he’s becoming more engaged in his life and within his community. Whether or not you agree with his methods or motivations, I think Suelo rightly reminds us that a lot of what we worry ourselves with is merely a byproduct of an arbitrary (and corrupt) system, and that, when we move beyond all of this (even in slight degrees), we free ourselves to more fully live.

[Yudron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confession: I have gotten to page 122 of my Nook book and I can't bring myself to go on.

It is a really interesting book about a philosophical young man who broke free from his fundamentalist upbringing in college, then when on to question everything. He eventually decided to experiment with living without money, and has continued to do so for years and years.

Okay, so that's intriguing, right? This book was written by a journalist acquaintance of his, and is well written. It really is amazing all the ingenious ways this gentleman has gotten by over the years. But, there were three things that just have become obstacles to me getting through the book. The first was that he developed extensive dental problems as a result of neglect. Eventually, I think he got some donated help with it, but I started feeling that this guy is really being too rigid about the no-money thing, and I am uncomfortable with people who are doctrinaire. The second is that he is highly defensive when people criticize his choices. The third is that I feel sad for this attractive gay man about my age who has a lot of friends, but does not seem to have much emotional or physical intimacy with other guys. He says he's not sad about it, but I am sad when I read it.

I hope I can go on reading, but I may not be able to. It just pushes my buttons, perhaps because I am like him in a lot of ways, and it's not a stretch to imagine having gone this route.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Man Who Quit Money, Daniel Suelo (Shellabarger) is on a spiritual journey to connect with a higher power and conduct his life accordingly. Suelo's search for answers takes him from the harsh environment in Alaska to Peace Corps in Ecuador to a monastery in Thailand to the canyons of Moab, Utah.

Friend Mark Sundeen captures all of the challenges of a man who realizes that in order to lead a fulfilling life he needs to own nothing and owe no one. I appreciated the author's depiction of this remarkable man, complete with all of his successes and failures. The reader gets to see the effect of his fundamentalist youth, his formative college years, and his fragile relationships.

It is hard to rationalize Suelo's lifestyle and imagine a life without any monetary safety net. Suelo frees himself from shackles of money because he is sincerely dedicated to his beliefs - that God will provide with God's own timing. He feels that we can't store, horde, buy, or prepare for what will happen next in our lives. Each reader must evaluate this message individually. The author doesn't provide any clear-cut answers. But the opportunity to follow this man into such a foreign world is fascinating and well worth your time to read and reflect upon.

[Elizabeth Tai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can understand why this book seems preachy to some - Daniel Suelo's lifestyle is very confronting; it goes against what many modern folks think is the definition of success: A fat bank balance, property all over the place, and a fancy title at a corporate job. At times, his ideas and opinions about modern life seem too far out and airy-fairy for the average cubicle dweller who has bills to pay; his ideals are far too removed from modern-day realities for many to grasp.

Still, Suelo asks you to consider another idea of success: To live free of the pressures of conformity, the expectations of others and the desire to hoard things - be it money or fancy cars - to feel that you've made it.

Instead, he lives life with a deep respect for nature, daring to risk society's censure, disapproval and hatred so that he can life the life he wants. If anything, this book teaches us that we shouldn't be afraid of having no money as the Earth can provide you enough. It also teaches us that happiness is a matter of perspective, and there's another way to succeed in life besides accumulating money and stuff.

Inspiring.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read which went far more into religion and Dan's history with different religions than the way he manages day to day without money. Then again, I don't believe learning about dumpster diving and finding the perfect cave would fill up more than 20 pages so his religious background was a necessary thread to weave the whole tale together. It did a very good job of reminding me that there are no hard and fast rules that everyone has to live by and who am I to judge any of it? There's no way I could do any of this nor do I want to but it was interesting to read about someone who puts that much faith into every day living ("if I live in the present, God will provide"). The book lent itself to some fun discussions with my husband which is one of the best things to come from reading new stories.

[Violeta Marin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suelo definitely has an extraordinary life. Religious beliefs seem to dictate to him everything: his lifestyle, his disgust to the consumerist society and his refusal to adapt to it. The book does not offer a very detailed description of how Suelo manages to live without money (maybe because there is nothing extraordinary about it - he eats wild berries, food from dumpster or freely given to him), but rather it focuses on his inner thougths and religious beliefs (that are not unheard-of, too). Very few passages truly captivated me: the one about the illusion of money, Suelo's experiences in Ecuador and Asia. Maybe the greatest achievement of this book is making you think even just for a few minutes, about the things that really fulfill your life: nature, family, hobbies, socialization, giving to others vs. a big house, expensive possessions and lots of money.

[Lori Bamber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I bought it because I'm always interested in the relationship that people have with money, but money plays a very small part in this biography, which is really much more than a biography. Daniel Suelo is a sensitive, spiritual and ethical man trying to live in a society that he sees as fatally flawed, driven largely by greed. Mark Sundeen's account spends little time on the practical realities of a life without money - living in a cave or under a tarp, scavenging from garbage bins and nature - and more on the spiritual implications.

The result is a mesmerizing read that broadened my mind and made me think differently about the decisions I make. As much as possible, this book made me want to withdraw from a culture driven by consumption, and to think more deeply about who I want to be in the world.