Nick RosenBesprekingen

Just finished this book.

First, let me say it is a strangely structured book, jumping all over the country to visit and discuss off-gridders in many locations. Perhaps this would have made more sense in the form a documentary film, but it doesn't quite work in this format.

That being said, it is a fun and interesting read. I enjoyed it. The author writes with with and honesty, and he has a genuine interest in off-grid living. He visits off-gridders of many varieties, examines their methods and motivations, and gives each a fair shake.

So if you are interested in this kind of thing, I do recommend this book. I respectfully disagree with those who found the author mean-spirited. He does give his opinions, and doesn't hold anything back, but I didn't get the feeling he had a ax to grind with anyone. He was probably harshest with the "inventor" of the Earthship, but from what I gather that guy probably deserves it.

Not a great book, but an interesting cross-view of the current social environment of 'living off the grid' through a journalist's road trip.

We’ve all had the experience of talking to someone who seems intelligent and interesting and then they randomly blurt strange and/or offensive comments that put you off. That’s pretty much the experience of reading this book.

As others have said, this is a fairly interesting book with some good information and insight, but it’s nearly overpowered by the author’s arrogant, confusing, and just plain weird comments that seem to come out of left field.

It has other flaws as well; like a lot of books these days it’s more like a long magazine article than a book. It’s full of passages like "I went to see X but he wasn’t home". OK, so why are you telling me that, and why didn’t you go back? A lot of it just seems a little half assed like that. He’s much more interested in getting to his next rant than telling the stories that are supposed to be the subject of the book. He starts a section telling us about someone and then just sort of abandons it without telling us why that person is significant. He leaves out a lot of information that I wanted to know, buy gives all kinds of completely useless and irrelevant facts, like telling the ages of and names of all the children of a woman he’s profiling, as well as the names and locations of their schools. Just in case I wanted to stalk them?

As someone else said, it just made me want to read a better book on the subject.

Just finished this book.First, let me say it is a strangely structured book, jumping all over the country to visit and discuss off-gridders in many locations. Perhaps this would have made more sense in the form a documentary film, but it doesn't quite work in this format. That being said, it is a fun and interesting read. I enjoyed it. The author writes with with and honesty, and he has a genuine interest in off-grid living. He visits off-gridders of many varieties, examines their methods and motivations, and gives each a fair shake. So if you are interested in this kind of thing, I do recommend this book. I respectfully disagree with those who found the author mean-spirited. He does give his opinions, and doesn't hold anything back, but I didn't get the feeling he had a ax to grind with anyone. He was probably harshest with the "inventor" of the Earthship, but from what I gather that guy probably deserves it.

I was just about to say exactly what schatzi said. I was interested in hearing the stories of all the different variety of off-gridders, but Rosen spoiled the trip for me. He had something off-color or nasty to say about almost all of the people he met. He was unable to give any helpful information about their set-ups; his descriptions were vague or non-existant. He focused on politics and his personal impressions. Since he is not a nice person, I was not at all interested in his opinions of people.
Too bad, this could have been a useful addition, as he identified the various reasons and styles for off-grid living.
One inadvertently amusing quote - He's talking about the Yogic community of Ananda Village - "These days the saffron robes have been replaced with Birkenstocks..." Try visualizing that.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Although the profiles of different people who were living off the grid (or at least trying to live off the grid) and their reasons for doing so were interesting, I couldn't get over the author's contemptuous tone. He criticized nearly everyone he met and came across as a condescending jerk. He That really ruined the book for me. If the author could have left his patronizing attitude at the door, the book would have been much more engaging.½

rosen travels across america visiting people who have either gone off grid or who are living lives that are ready to be off grid. he talks to people who have left the grid for a variety of reasons and tries to get at the root of people's reasons. he explores the various ways that people live off grid; from the legal to the not-so-legal.

i really enjoyed this book. it got me thinking about the ways in which i live my life and the areas in which i could change to consume less.

my only complaint is that every person he talked to had at least enough money up front to buy land or a trailer or make renovations. it was only in one or two instances where someone had no money at all and usually they at least had a vehicle. i would have liked to have read about some solutions for folks who don't have money to make any kind of deposit upfront but who still manage to get themselves at least somewhat off the grid.