Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America

by Nick Rosen

A look inside the subculture of off-grid living, taking readers across the ideological spectrum and across America

Written by a leading authority on living off the grid, this is a fascinating and timely look at one of the fastest growing movements in America. In researching the stories that would become Off the Grid, Nick Rosen traveled from one end of the United States to the other, spending time with all kinds of individuals and families striving to live their lives the way they want to-free from dependence on municipal power and amenities, and free from the inherent dependence on the government and its far-reaching arms. While the people profiled may not have a lot in common in terms of their daily lives or their personal background, what they do share is an understanding of how unique their lives are, and how much effort and determination is required to maintain the lifestyle in the face of modern America's push toward connectivity and development.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Politics, Environment, Sustainability, Survival, Green

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2010

Reviews

[Bronwyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

One star. Misogynistic, xenophobic book. Another case of a white guy being given a platform he should never have been given. Though there are some interesting anecdotes of people living off-grid in America for a variety of reason, there's little practical or in-depth information and the historical argument for the "grid conspiracy" in the beginning is confused and too short (feels tacked on). Women are rated in terms of attractiveness and willingness to put out. Space is devoted to off-grid southern communities banding against Mexicans "taking over" their country, as if all Mexicans were the same.

No one should read this book, ever.

[Missy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I really, really wanted to like this book more than I did. It's hard to describe why I didn't fully enjoy reading it, but I think it has to do with the pervasive...mean-spirited feeling of the thing. I certainly wouldn't expect the author to actually like all of his subjects, or for them to like him. However, his descriptions of many of them and their lifestyles just give me a nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I was hearing gossip.

It got to the point around the middle of the book, that when he would describe a potential interviewee regarding him with trepidation, I'd be thinking, "And rightly so! Run and hide in your root cellar!" The writing somehow lacks kindness. (Sort of like this review!)

At the end of every section he manages a sort of personal moral appraisal of the situations he profiles, which seems unnecessary, since the reader can certainly detect his attitude throughout. He also jumps from person to person very quickly in some cases, and just when a story intrigues you, it is either broken off completely or he makes a judgmental comment to neatly sum up, and hops back in his rentacar, ready to meet some new people he can privately note to himself are "white trash" because they eat canned food, even as they are offering him dinner.

One thing I did like was that he DID look at people who are living off-grid for many reasons, not just environmental ones. My quarrel is not at all with the selection of those he chose to interview. It was actually nice to see acknowledgment that there are a lot of people who live that way for financial and logistical reasons as well as environmental ones. Not every off-grid situation is going to resemble Dancing Rabbit commune...Sometimes it's a single person living in a trailer out in the desert.

[Ellis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going off the grid is a subject I have an almost endless interest in; I'll say almost because it turns out my interest ends here, with this book. Rosen is honestly just a bit of a twit. At some point, he expresses dismay when a host offers him a plastic cup for his wine. I was so exasperated with him by this point, I figured he was mad because it's gauche to put wine in plastic, not that he had a legitimate ecological reason to not use disposable cups. This book is filled with snarky tidbits like, ". . . Jim expects the residents (of New York City) to be completely incapable of fending for themselves. Even fleeing the city will be too much for them, said the Brooklyn-born fifty-year-old." So because he's from Brooklyn . . . what? He's unqualified to comment? He's a hypocrite? Maybe that's not even a snarky comment, maybe Rosen is a really great guy even though he does not come across as one, and maybe he's completely justified in calling people "tubby" as he does more often than one should expect. Maybe this book just wasn't what I'm looking for, whether or not the author is distractingly annoying. At some point he speaks about enjoying someone's "honest blog, on which she writes about her attempts to go off the grid in Texas" with a straight face. It seems to me that a blog about going off the grid is a startling contradiction in terms.

[Greg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Typically I love books like this. So much so that my best friend likes to make fun of me for how much I enjoy the at-least-historically-if-not-currently-privileged-white-male-decides-to-"rough-it"-then-writes-a-book-about-how-hard-but-how-rewarding-it-is genre. The general criticisms of books like these are definitely valid. But I've always defended them and enjoyed them because (surprise!) I myself am a white male that's been pretty lucky in life. Reading someone who speaks to you from your own basic perspective but has done different things is an excellent way to get introduced to those new and different things.

So I encourage people to read whatever they want and don't feel like you have to explain why you like it. Interested in back-to-the-land memoir-esque books but not ready to get too extreme yet? Might I suggest "Better Off" or "Twelve by Twelve" -- two of my recent favorites. Just please, whatever you do, don't read "Off the Grid." It's just aggressively bad. I made it to about page 70 before I just couldn't take it anymore. I gave such a long introduction to this review just to make it clear that even as someone who agrees with the ideas contained within the book, I still couldn't stand it.

Rosen is just very self-righteous and arrogant. More than any other book in this genre, the "I" part of the story is excessively present at all times. The first passage that made me do a full-out eye-roll was on page 22. After the NY blackouts, he's pondering the whole situation on his flight back to London, meditating on whether our grid should be organized this way. He says, "Not once did anyone suggest that perhaps we should not have a grid. Well... I did." Really? You really, sincerely don't think that anyone, anywhere else could possibly have been contemplating similar things to you? Wow. That's amazing. We're so lucky to have you to think about this for us. You're really quite the forward-thinker there. Such a lone soldier in the great philosophical fight against a world full of electricity-gobbling boneheads.

He whines about his difficulties and makes sure you know exactly what he thinks about every fact, character, statistic, idea -- everything. And yes, I understand the memoir aspect of stories like this mean you'll necessarily have to know what the author thinks, but I don't really need to know what you think about EVERYTHING. It reminds me of visiting home and having your mother just blahblahblah about all the decisions you've been making, only to follow it with "I'm just saying..."

That's Nick Rosen.

And another thing -- he's very mean-spirited. So much so that it distracts from the message and most especially from the characters. Does the reader really need to know that one character "is becalmed with his wife, whom he clearly finds intensely irritating?" Has nothing to do with the passage in which its written, or in the section as a whole -- much less the theme. Who knows, maybe it has value later in the book. I'm not sticking around to see. Is it also strictly necessary to describe a heavyset person as "tubby?"

I've got a lot more to say, but this review is already longer than the ones for some books I've actually finished. I just disliked it that much. Rosen is everything that I usually try to convince people that all liberals AREN'T. He's smug and unlikeable, which of course does nothing but disservice to his cause.

Maybe I've got it all wrong. This is, of course, the only thing I've read of his. But even if I do have it wrong, then that means that at very least he's a really bad writer. Either way, try other books first.

To anyone who may disagree with Rosen's message more generally, that's cool -- just please keep an open mind and don't think that all liberal-minded, environmentalist types are as bad as this guy.

[Ocean · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book's really interesting, and has a lot of really cool interviews, and could be really amazing. BUT. the author ruins it so much with his judgmental attitude! he brings up all these irrelevant details (like the fact that he ONLY rents luxury SUV's to drive around the country...for research of an OFF-GRID book!!, or the attractiveness/unattractiveness of his interview subject [like that has ANYTHING to do with ANYTHING]).
here are my top few ridiculous statements made in this book:
1. while he's hanging out in a very low-income, crime ridden neighborhood, he spots several young men riding around aimlessly on their bicycles. he says something like, "we saw the same men over and over again. clearly, they must be drug mules." uhh....because late teen/early 20's boys don't ride aimlessly around neighborhoods for any other reason? just because they're committing felonies? if they were in a wealthier neighborhood, would they just be exercising?
2. he asks for wineglasses from a couple who live in a shack in rural texas, and is shocked--SHOCKED!--when the matriarch of the family hands him plastic disposable cups. he actually stares at them in mute disgust, willing them to turn into glass. now, i'm not a fan of drinking out of disposables either. but seriously?!? rude AND ridiculous.
3. and finally.....something that was so weird i had to actually get off my ass and find the book for a direct quote. he describes talking to a mennonite boy in rural ohio or somewhere like that. He says (direct quote, from page 222): "He was wearing a pair of sturdy blue work jeans--not Levi's, and not dark blue, but a middle color that says (in New York, at least) 'a little bit cheap, almost slutty.'" WTF?!?!?!?!!!!???

anyway. this book has its perks. like, it makes living off the grid seem totally possible, and it shows the wide variety of people who choose to do this, proving it's not just wingnuts. but, oh, i wish this was less crazy and better-executed.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would be so much better if Nick Rosen didn't spend most of it being a condescending snob. In the name of sustainability, he could even take all the energy he would save and put it towards becoming a better writer.

The first chapter of the book, focusing on the history of the grid, is very difficult to slog through. The information it contains could have been presented in a more interesting way, or interspersed with the remaining chapters of the book, or eliminated altogether. As it is, I don't think the scandalous behavior of the utility companies in the early years of the twentieth century are really a primary motivator for people interested in going off the grid a hundred years later.

The stories of the people Rosen meets living off the grid are quite interesting, once he gets around to relating them. But his obvious preference for rich white people building off grid for ecological reasons is a continual distraction. When he encounters off grid dwellers who are off grid for economic reasons, or due to a distrust of corporate government, he is horrified by such things as having to drink wine from a plastic cup (horror!) or eat on paper plates. He also gives lots of admiring type to rich pot growers living on the land in California, but skates over every mention of peak oil as something of a fringe theory every single time an off gridder brings it up.

He also spends some time among the Amish, and repeatedly uses the words 'Amish' and 'Mennonite' as if they are interchangable. They are not, and to be unaware of that basic fact smacks of lazy research.

Rosen also comes off badly when he does things like sleep in his rental car for a night in an attempt to determine what it's like to live in your car. Sleeping in your fancy rental SUV for one night strikes me as very different from being forced by financial hardship to take up permanent residence in one.

The book is also light on actual discussions of the 'hows' of going off grid. How much does it cost to buy a yurt or build an Earthship or strawbale house? Is a septic system a self-contained method of plumbing, or are composting toilets really the only way to go? How many acres of land are really needed to grow food sufficient to an individual's needs? How expensive are solar panels, and how much energy do they generate? These seem like basic things to cover in a book about off grid living, but are not really explored or explained.

The best thing about the book is that it does end up making the reader feel that building a life off the grid is a real possibility. And as long as you don't have to live next door to someone like Rosen, it seems like a great way to reconnect with a simpler and more mindful lifestyle.

[Irina · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I had read the reviews before picking up this book, this wouldn't have happened.

[Chani Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I really enjoyed this. There wasn’t really a big cincher, rather just a series of opinions, interviews, situations and observations… but it was an interesting read all the way through.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Nick Rosen put up a website to help his fellow Britons find resources and land reduce their carbon footprint by living off the grid, he was astonished at all of the interest his site received from the United States. He had more American readers than English readers, in fact, and decided to investigate. Off the Grid records his visits with various communities which operate outside the electrical grid. Although its subtitle refers to a coherent movement, there is nothing like that actually here. Rosen's account includes many people who simply happen to be without power, like the homeless and the residents of a small Florida key ("No Name Key") who balked at the enormous cost of electrifying their island. Some of the persons included are positively dull, like the numerous wealthy types who maintained a 'vacation home' off the grid when they needed a retreat from their busy lives. There are far more interesting characters present, though: an aging woman introduced as the founder of the 2nd Maine Militia, who has a working relationship with a local commune of anarchists, and another woman who gave up PBS videography to teach SCUBA diving and drive trucks, instead.

The majority of these interviews take place in the Southwest, where land is cheap and the population sparse. While some of the people included here are gridless because of poverty or remoteness, most have chosen it while trying to find a more meaningful life. They want freedom from the constant distractions, simplifying their lives to the point of being free from utilities: they aim to put to rout all that was not life. Another element present in these interviews is fear, of people withdrawing from a system that they view as either criminally exploitative or doomed to failure by its excesses. (While Rosen's grid-free interest mostly stems from environmentalism, he has a contempt for power monopolies that gives him plenty of common ground with this last category.) Most of the people interviewed have a shade of...quirkiness to them, a possible consequence of living either in their heads or in echo chambers. Rosen brings to life quite a few tangential topics like microcurrencies, the pot economy, and the ins and outs of living in cars during these interviews.

Although I found several of the characters of interest, ultimately Off the Grid disappointed me. Far too many of the subjects just happen to be without power, rather than deliberately choosing to live 'outside the system'. Those who remain don't share a worldview, and the groups that would (that anarchist cult, for instance, or the hippie commune) aren't explored in a great deal of detail. Practically nothing is mentioned of how they're getting along, aside from the constant mention of solar panels and a one-paragraph visit to a composting toilet, and Rosen is a grating narrator who makes fun of his subjects to the reader while he's talking with the people. He does offer some thoughtful commentary though, especially in discussion with one man who lived by himself until he realized he had it wrong: it's not about self-sufficiency, it's about nurturing healthy and self-sufficient communities. In connection with others, there is meaning -- off the grid or on.

[Adriane Devries · Rating 3 out of 5]

British journalist Nick Rosen’s curiosity of the self-sustaining lifestyle, fueled perhaps with a dose of his own social antipathy, leads him to interview a smattering of off-grid communities and individuals across America. On his pilgrimage, he scavenges enough cheap living arrangements, gossip, home brew and, ahem, locally grown flora to rant about the allure, challenges, politics and inevitable conflicts that surround such a counter-cultural lifestyle. It sounds fun, really, except for the morally dubious bits of course, to see the stark beauty of mountains and lakes and deserts where the self-proclaimed misfits of society attempt to reinvent what didn’t work elsewhere. Many perspectives are pursued—from people whose illegal backgrounds or mental health issues preclude mainstream employment, or who merely long for natural spaces apart from bustling civilization, or folks who enjoy the challenge of living smartly and frugally, to those whose religious or political beliefs lead them to separate from a degraded culture—Rosen shows that there are many ways to shuck the system, in whatever form that system manifests. He outlines the history of the utility grid and the entrapment of government into rich entrepreneurs’ business schemes, leading up to the current disturbingly undemocratic bureaucracy of energy. While somewhat boring to read, the basic conclusion is that once a system grows corrupted and unwieldy in size, a new system will rise up and strike out on its own. It’s the story of every revolution, and perhaps this grassroots movement, with all its diversity of philosophy, will unite enough to become legally sustainable communities. However, even if they succeed, nothing stays small forever, and every new beginning eventually ends. Old ghosts of pride and personality follow every individual, and the age-old struggle of peace versus power reasserts itself wherever humans gather. It is very likely that the only utopia that can truly last must at least begin within.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book needs less contempt and more transitions and section summaries. I'm not sure what Nick Rosen wants me to think of people who live off the grid--I think he likes the idea, based on the fact that he wrote a book about it and lives off the grid part time himself. But he treats those who choose to live off grid with such contempt that I'm not sure there's anyone living off grid that he respects--they're either too rich or too poor, they love the earth too much or they love their guns too much, they're too religious or too self important or too obsessed with conspiracies or imminent social collapse. Of course, if you live on the grid, that doesn't protect you from Rosen's contempt either--you're obviously too materialistic, too brainwashed by our consumer culture, and generally too dumb for your own good.

In the meantime, Rosen strings together the write-ups of his interviews with little more than a blank line to connect the elements. If he has a train of thought that ties things together, he doesn't bother to share it with you (my suspicion is that he doesn't). And at the end of a long narrative of the time he spent with some off-gridder, he just drops the subject and moves on without summarizing and emphasizing the important points.

I bought this book for $1 (used) at a book fair. I should've realized that a one dollar price tag on a five-month-old book is not a sign of quality. However, the subject matter was interesting enough to finish the book. Ultimately, though, this book makes me want to find a good book on this subject. I know I won't waste any more of my time on Rosen's writing.

[Stephany Wilkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I often grab books I see on my library's "new" shelves, and this was one of them. I give it three stars for the stories the author found. Rosen did a lot of work and research to find the many people with whom he visited, interviewed, and stayed. Unfortunately, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Rosen goes overboard on being honest and upfront about his own opinions, to the extent that his commentary interferes with the stories of his subjects so strongly as to become a distraction.

In addition and as others have noted, the subjects don't match the wide swath of people the title promises: most of them are pot growers or similar, or people with signs of serious mental illness. This left me feeling at once happy that they've found a way to live that works for them (off the grid and alone, which I sincerely believe is viable and even desirable) but also sad that they don't have more help, because they are obviously in serious distress.

I did appreciate the fact that Rosen provides detail on how the people he interviewed purchased or otherwise came to occupy their land. This is the part that most romanticized off-the-grid books fail to mention at all or skirt over, and Rosen shows that it is (for desirable, rural land) at best difficult and more often nearly impossible if you're young and didn't get to buy any in the 1970s when it was cheap.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

As someone who is in the process of finishing building a Tiny House, I enjoyed the book. It made me want to finish the tiny house SOON - so we can live in it and enjoy a simple lifestyle.

Nick Rosen (from the UK) wrote this book about his experiences journeying across the United States interviewing folks who live off the grid. He does an amazing job interviewing a wide spectrum of people, all with different reasons WHY they choose to live the lifestyle that they are.

He also does a great job diving into the history of how the "grid" was formed. Stuff that I had NO idea about, nor had ever really thought about, even though we hope to someday live off the grid.

The way Nick Rosen communicated the stories was a little bit confusing. Instead of reporting chronologically, he reports based on topic. So characters pop up all over the book and it's a little hard to remember who is who.

Overall, a great book if you are considering living off the grid or know someone who lives off the grid. Most likely they are featured in this book as there are SO many accounts in the book.

[C.w. Second · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although for me the idea of living off grid is rather interesting and compelling, this book does little to encourage people to signup for the lifestyle. Primarily the author, Nick Rosen, drove all around North America seeking out all sorts of off-griders and briefly writing about his interactions with these strangers. All too often the reader is left wanting more from these interactions, more imagery, more character development, more philosophy, just plain more.

OK. but it was informative, and he did a good job of showing the reader the wide variety of off gridders and different reasons they chose, or were forced into their lifestyles.

I simply wanted more.

I didn't know much about the movement prior to the book, so if someone is like me, and knows little, I encourage people to give the book a go.

It'll inform at least.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book gives an array of perspectives and reasons for going off the grid, the author analyzes his interviewees too harshly. He seemed to be more critical of the women than the men. His descriptions of the people who he interviewed have nothing to do with the actual subject of the book. I don't object to the author giving his opinion, but I felt like he was gossiping about those he interviewed.

It was, however, nice to read about all of the different living situations and the reasons people chose to live a certain way. I also liked reading about the different communities that have been created because of the commonality of wanting to be off the grid.

I would not recommend this book. This is the first book I have read about being off the grid, but I am sure there are other books out there with better descriptions and writing that address the same subject matter.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. And I didn't know as much about the history of the why and whens building the grid--which was nice to learn. But the tone of this book was pretty weird--super slanted in favor of being off the grid. I think it would be amazing if we slowly broke up the grid and started taking more responsibility for energy production in our individual communities. But I am not angry--like Rosen is--at folks who support the grid and its further expansion. It's hard to believe in someone's argument for something, when they are so completely dismissive and insulting to the folks on the other side of the argument.

But it's a short, quick read. So, if you'd like a vaguely angry introduction to off the grid living, this might be just the thing for you.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating, but I was constantly distracted by the judgements of the author about the subjects he was writing about. He seemed to always have an opinion - down to the dietary habits of the folks he was meeting not being as fancy as his. Also the writing style was a tad scattered, and he never delves into any one topic too deeply making some of it seem book reportish. That said, it was interesting, and gave me a little more insight into some of the groups living the off grid lifestyle.

[Ariel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s a book of synopses of various people who live off the grid. Rosen touches on how and why they got there and what life is like now for them. He adds a complete lack of objectivity in descriptive language: describing a woman as “tubby,” another he compares to Mr. Toad (in Wind in the Willows).

I do take issue with the review that says he’s xenophobic - there is no section in this book to suggest that. Nowhere in this book does he talk about an off grid community banding together to “keep Mexicans out.”

He is quick to judge and hypocritical. He talks about a Mennonite community as being selfish and isolationist, albeit, on a community level. His section on off grid survivalists is almost entirely based on three people who all think 9/11 was an inside job, among other theories varying in wackiness. As if all survivalists who have a bug-out plan are nutters wearing tinfoil hats. This is in a chapter named, “Fear.” He mentions in several places that people who have bug-out plans are pretty much only driven by fear and that the idea of a bug-out sounds like “self-imprisonment.” I would have appreciated an objective treatment of survivalists and a better sampling of them in this book.

I did like the beginning of the book which is an impartial, in-depth look at how we first got on the grid.

I really wanted to like this book but it was a chore to drag myself to the final page.

[Jonathan Fowler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I asked her the question as we trudged contentedly through the dry leaves near the river on a cold fall morning. "Freedom," she sighed, tousling her hair as she conducted an internal interrogation to find out what her real motives are. "Privacy." And then a pause. "I want as little government involvement in my life as possible, and that sounds like a really Republican thing to say, but it's not. I've been trying to make a life where I can disengage from corporate and government serfdom as much as possible. I'm not completely free of it, but I am trying. This corporate-government structure seems to always be thinking of new ways to curtail our freedom, and keep us thinking that we should be chained to the treadmill. "One of the most effective ways for them to do that is to sell us products that we don't really need, and persuade us to commit to yet another monthly bill. At least if you are off grid you don't have to sign on for monthly bills. "We're forced to live beyond our means because the basic necessities of living are beyond our means— most importantly, the ground we stand on, light to see with, clean water to drink. These basic needs have been hijacked by the wealthy in collusion with governments, starting with claiming large tracts of land, which then are parceled and rented out." (p. 80)

[Sarah Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book several years ago because the OTG movement has always been an interest to me, and I finally got around to reading it. All I can say is, this book was a huge disappointment. I really wanted to like it, I definitely did not. The beginning of the book, chapters 1-3, were incredibly dry and boring. I almost stopped reading it, but I continued on. Chapters 4-9 actually brought my interest back and I really enjoyed reading about the different type of OTG lifestyles. However the enjoyment was short lived, the last fews chapters were just like the first few - dry, boring, and strayed off the topic. Definitely do NOT recommend this book.

[Katherine Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the interviews in this book. I found it really useful to understand the history behind certain reasons why people may be motivated to go off the grid. What I didn’t understand is why the author chose to go at it with a condescending undertone towards those whose lifestyles he didn’t agree with. I still found the book interesting and valuable, just wish the author had spoken with more kindness towards populations with views that didn’t align with his own.
Overall, I’d give it a 3.8 only for this reason. Otherwise it was a great book with great information about a diverse group of people.

[Rachel Dows · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was extremely interesting from a sociological perspective. It also opened me up to new geopolitical perspectives. Rosen does a fantastic job giving readers an inside look while maintaining and outsider's perspective - at no point does Rosen push his own perspective on readers. He does sometimes present his opinions, but they are always presented as exactly that: opinions.

Overall, definitely worth a read, even if you'd ever even consider off-grid life.

[Kimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, it mainly consists of short chapters each focusing on a person who's gone off the grid to some extent and then some overarching commentary on the movement in general by the author. It was really fascinating hearing how these people have extricated themselves from society and still manage to eke out a living. It was also very fun to romanticize the situation and start mentally planning my own little farm/ bunker in my head :p

[Amberwench · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a how-to, but rather a 'why?', this book is filled with stories and interviews with people who have gone off the grid and what drove them to make that choice. It covers a variety of people and stories.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look into the why and how of off-griding. I found it unsettling that he was writing about a period of time from 2000 to 2009. Current events seemed the same and some things have come to pass.

[NormaJean · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating is higher than most because I think that the case studies included in the book of a sufficient variety to provide an interesting overview of life off grid.

That said, yes, one must be able to look past the author's prejudices.

[Jodi Ralston · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of interesting stories, but I could do without the looking down his nose at most of the people the author met.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been better...not the worse, but for the subject matter, I was expecting a lot, and it never quite delivered.

[Kyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the story of a crazy guy driving around the country finding somehow yet crazier people. For a topic that's potentially fascinating, he managed to make me dread turning every page.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best aspect of this book is the interesting stories he tells of all the people he meets living off grid. The worst aspect of this book is the writer's smug attitude.