A Forest A River and me

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Patrick Michael Murphy offers a very close and personal look into living off the grid. In this book he is in Idaho, near the Priest River. While he had lived in other similar places, this time he was much more on his own. His friend Stan helped him construct the two cabins on the land, which they had decided to purchase together and utilize with the lowest possible impact. This is a lifestyle many environmental types might fantasize of pursuing, but is full of challenges and unexpected complications. Patrick went into this situation with substantial credit card debt among other obstacles, but made a great effort to live this way, and shares some of his lessons in this book.

I must say that the book would benefit from judicious editing. The overuse or misplacement of commas, spelling errors, and run-on sentences make it a distracting read. Each chapter is its own piece in a way, but the continuity is choppy; one doesn’t always connect well to the next. In addition, the presence of numbers is distracting, such as seeing “2X4” or any other technical term not familiar to those without construction experience. All of the details of his expenses are unnecessary, it is already apparent he was on a tight budget.

Stylistic issues out of the way, there are some interesting features here as well. It seems Patrick is a good story teller, and we get a sense of his voice. The book reads like a transcribed conversation with a live audience. At the beginning of this period, he worked at a newspaper, having worked previously as a cameraman in the army. He was limited to conducting phone interviews and sometimes found himself at odds with his boss when trying to report all sides of the story, as a responsible journalist would. Adding to his discontent were the long, taxing commute and the cramped workspace. This was not worth supporting his dream of living closer to nature, so he eventually quit this job, believing his romantic interest at the time would do the same and join him

At this time, and throughout the book, Patrick pours out his reflections on what it might take to live life in an enjoyable way. For him, that means a reduced carbon footprint. He faces many hard decisions, and has to make compromises. For example, he purchases a composting toilet, and makes a good case for their wider use, but also gives too much information. As with some of his personal relationships, it didn’t feel right to be reading about them. On a different note, his interactions with the abundant wildlife are much more interesting. In the end, though, the swarms of mosquitos were enough to convince even Patrick to move on from the land, and make more tough choices that eventually work things out for the best.