THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE LAST TRUE HERMIT.

THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE LAST TRUE HERMIT by MICHAEL FINKEL.

INNER COVER BLURB: This is the strange tale of Christopher Knight. At twenty years of age, he left behind his family, drove into the forests of Maine and disappeared from sight for almost three decades.

Christopher immersed himself in a life of solitude, navigating by starlight. With just a flimsy tent foe shelter, he survived the brutal winters by his wits and courage. Occasionally he would have to venture to holiday cabins in the dead of night to pilfer a bit of food. Each time he passed undetected and each time the local community grew more fearful. He became a riddle, a local legend, and the subject of an intense manhunt.

The Stranger In The Wood's is a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live life on his own terms - told to the one person he trusted with his story. 

FIRST SENTENCE {1}: The trees are mostly skinny where the hermit lives, but thet're tangled over giant boulders with deadfall everywhere like pick-up sticks.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {PAGE 64}: He'd slid his boots onto sawed-off branches, a wilderness drying rack. One tree had held rakes and snow shovels; another, an olive-green baseball cap and a floppy gray fishing hat. Some items had been in place so long that the trees grew around them. 

SOURCE: A GoodReads win.

READ FOR: Not applicable.

MY THOUGHTS: Riveting stuff. My hat off to the author Michael Finkel who obviously got to know and respect Christopher Knight, the hermit of the title, well despite his initial objections to being interviewed. Who investigated not only the woodside camp that had become Christopher's home but also the local holiday cabins from which he had obtained the necessities which with to survive the mosquito-plagued summers and freezing winters. Who took time to gain an insight into Christopher's relationship with his family. Who, fascinatingly, took what I felt must have been a significant amount of time researching other 'hermits' throughout history.