The Stranger in the Woods question

I thought the book was well-written and explained different view points of being a hermit and how much detail Christopher took into making his home in the woods. Although being a hermit can come from personality disorders, religious preferences, etc we still do not have an understanding as to why this particular person chose this lifestyle despite his families obvious misgivings and upset. You get the feeling as you read that there was more to this person's life prior to becoming a hermit than what we know. Will we ever know? The book describes his home life as not having any abuse, drugs etc or family turmoil so what would cause this person to want to suddenly vanish and never see their loved ones again? There must be alot more to the story....

It seems that hereditary reasons were a large contribution. The author talked about Knight's entire family being slightly reclusive and perhaps he just received a larger share of those genes.
I also thought it was very interesting how he chose to go to the woods not as a result of a traumatizing event or philosophical epiphany, but as a seemingly random decision. I think the mysterious motivations behind such a radical choice are why the story is so alluring. Maybe Chris did have a better reason but chose to keep it a secret, which would make sense since he's an incredibly private person. Regardless, I agree, it was an enjoyable read.