As I started reading the story, I found it fascinating. However, the more I read, the more annoyed and angry I got. To be honest, I didn’t finish the last 40 pages. The author tried to turn Knight into some prophetic intellect, when he was simply a thief who didn’t want to live in society.

This is the most difficult book I had to review.

At first, I was going to rate it 4 stars- The story of Christopher Knight and his decision to become a bystander of society instead of a participant is harrowing. Knight is a man who prefers solitude and avoidance of human interaction, and while his methods of achieving this is not entirely ethical, it is admirable his ability to survive in the cruelty of nature much to himself.

However, the author is insanely intrusive in how he squeezed information out of both Knight and his family. Knight is quoted repeatedly as pushing the author out of his life, even threatening to call the police, *begging* the author to leave him and his family alone.

While I do think Knight’s story is worth telling and knowing, the author’s stalker behavior is abhorrent. An otherwise incredible story and book is muddied with the author’s grotesque obsession with a man who wants nothing more but stillness in a chaotic world.

If you do read this book, I highly recommend using a library or borrowing a copy elsewhere. Finkel’s exploration of this story should not be rewarded with payment.

Stories of these outlier personalities are fascinating. Chris Knight's direct & honest demeanor contrasting with his life of burglary sustaining his hermitage. This book was also a quick and easy read, a lot of bang for your buck. Of note were how the law enforcement professionals at every level of the Maine criminal justice system sympathized with him and seemed to accommodate his peculiarities in seeking justice for his crimes.

The story of a man who just wants to be left alone as written by a man who refused to.

I kept thinking - leave this poor man alone! He doesn’t want you to write a book about him!

It's hard for me to review this one cause, if you'd have stopped me at different points in the story and asked me to give you my rating, I'd have been all over the place. Now, I won't spoil anything for you but I do have strong opinions about this book, so if those will be enough to sway your own view then you'd best look elsewhere.

For the first three, maybe four chapters I thought to myself: "ohhh, this one is going to be good, five stars for sure..". Yes it opens strong, the narrative style grabs you and keeps you interested in what comes next.

Then by the time we're half-way and we learn more about the hermit and his motives for abandoning society and all its trappings, I was more inclined to give it two stars. I couldn't imagine how the rest of the book would fare now that the punch had been delivered. It was a weak punch if we can call it that.

As we pass the three-quarters mark, I would have told you that the writer managed to rescue the story and I'd have told you that four-stars would have not been too generous. The conversations between the writer/reporter and the hermit turn a bit more philosophical and things begin to take shape. Finally.

But then, the ending comes and I am left a bit infuriated as to how the whole thing was handled by the writer.

Here's a poor soul, a recluse who chose extreme hardship in order to avoid human contact and participation in society in order to find peace with himself. So, after he is captured what does the writer do? He turns into a needy, tactless, relentless, inconsiderate twat literary paparazzo that won't leave the guy or his family alone for the sake of completing his story. Even mormons, Tupperware salesmen, Jehova's Witnesses, and telemarketers would have been like, "by Moroni, dude, chill already!"

I will grant him that the book is very well written, and a fast read. Also, at least he was transparent enough to discuss his transgressions and to own up to them to some degree.

I'd be inclined to recommend this to someone stuck at an airport in search of a light read, or to someone with well-adjusted expectations. You won't find compelling back stories nor earth-shattering truths here.

3.5 ish - interesting story, but I had a conflicting relationship with the hermit. Maybe that's how it was supposed to be - how he "feels" in society. There were points where I felt pity for him, other times where I felt he was a cocky a-hole, and other times where I felt like he was just crying out for attention like a toddler.

The idea of retreating completely from society is fascinating to me because I’ve always felt a similar pull for extreme solitude.
The story of Chris Knight is fascinating to me because of this kind if retreat, but more so because of the disparity between his desire to be free from human contact and his complete dependence upon other humans as a means of survival.
He appears, from the perspective of the writer, to be extremely intelligent, yet his morality is underdeveloped, likely due to the lack of interactions post-adolescence.
Knight wants to live separate from humanity and yet lives off of humanity. Everything he needs to survive is stolen from homes and a children’s camp that he repeatedly burglarized over a period of 27 years. The peace that he sought came at the price of the protracted fear and unrest of many others.


Aside:
I enjoyed this book on audio, although the narrator pronounces the wh sound like Stewie from Family Guy, which drew me out of the story every time.