Man Bites Log: The Unlikely Adventures of a City Guy in the Woods by Max Alexander

by Max Alexander

Max Alexander had been the executive editor of Variety and was the senior editor at People magazine in charge of all Hollywood coverage, when he decided one day that the glitz of Tinseltown and the glamour of New York didn’t quite hold the allure they once had. So Alexander turned down yet another fancy magazine job, and family in tow, moved to a farmhouse in rural Maine, where he suddenly found himself forced to confront neighbors who “speak slowly but are hard to understand, and drive slower but are impossible to pass.” In the course of this both sobering and hilarious how-not-to, Alexander covers the gamut, from doing his best to avoid burning down the barn, and occasional intrusions from his previous life, to what E.B. White calls the “basic satisfaction of farming”—manure. Approaching what passes for small-town life in rural New England with the gusto and nose for a scoop of a seasoned Hollywood reporter, Alexander puts a new spin on the tradition launched by Thoreau’s reportage from Walden. Man Bites Log is an essential collection for readers of back-to-the-land literature, and anyone convinced that la dolce vita can be found in a pile of dung.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

Mass Market Paperback

First published September 12, 2004

Reviews

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously...could we please have another story of an urban Gen Xer who needs to escape to the wilderness and raise goats? How original...This book sucked, but I finished it because I love Maine.

[Mom (Belinda) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A guy from LA and New York moves to a farm in Maine. He has some good insights about us, but there are some things he just does not get.

[Marcy Stearns · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was more like a compilation of blogs than a story. It was not what I. was hoping for.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

HILARIOUS!!!!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining book. I actually laughed out loud in parts of this book (a little embarrassing in public). It is a light fun read.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A funny, light read about a writer who moves his family from their familiar home in New York and writing assignments for Hollywood to the backwoods of Maine.

[Laird Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining, fun and highly enjoyable story of how author and his family moved to Maine.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost as good as Best Person Rural.

[Daniel Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would actually give it a 3.5, but since I can only give whole numbers, had to lean more towards 3 than 4.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great character descriptions and observations about people. Made me laugh out loud!