This is a fascinating story wrapped up in a ‘good enough’ book.  I’m grateful to Susan’s college roommate, Amy, for bringing this book to my attention.  As someone who prizes their solitude, it was interesting to read about Christopher Thomas Knight who took the search for solitude, quiet, and simplicity to new heights.

Finkel is a reporter who lives in western Montana.  He became acquainted with Knight’s story from the newspapers after Knight was arrested in the Maine woods in 2013.  Knight had grown up in rural Maine, the fifth son of a hard-working family who prized their self-sufficiency and privacy.  He seemed like a regular teenager, graduating from high school and getting a job installing internet devices and telephones.  He had an apartment and a new car which his brother had signed for the loan.  Then one day in 1985 at the age of 20 he drove to Florida for no apparent reason, had an epiphany, turned around, and drove deep into the woods of northwest Maine where he abandoned the car, left the keys in it, and with no gear or food, struck out into the forest heading south on foot.  When he got to North Pond, only 30 miles from his home in Albion, Maine, he found a spot where he was confident he could live in secret and isolation.  And thus began, 25 years of living alone and unknown in the Maine woods.

Knight survived by looting nearby cabins, never creating any damage or taking items of significant value, but only food, batteries, books, propane tanks, and the occasional mattress, tent, or backpack.  His campsite was a model of self-sufficiency and was totally camaflouged from both the ground and the air.  He never made a campfire, afraid the smoke would disclose his location, and living through the often -20 degree winters was an amazing feat.  Despite extensive efforts by law enforcement, he managed to elude capture until one night in 2013 when a Maine Game Warden’s trap at a lakeside summer camp enabled his capture.

Finkel visited Knight nine times, and though he established somewhat of a relationship, Knight remained withdrawn at least partly because he had not spoken a single word to any human being for 25 years except for a single ‘Hi’ when he encountered a hiker on a trail near his camp.  Finkel visited Knight in prison and after his release on probation and while he was undergoing close monitoring, and he eventually established as much of a relationship as Knight was capable of.  He tells Knight’s story in a sympathetic and caring way, though he never is able to adequately explain Knight’s motivation and thinking.

Through this story, Finkel weaves a history of hermits.  Those who are pursuers, pilgrims, or protesters, but Knight didn’t fit any of these categories.  The man, evidently, just wanted to be alone and left alone.

I checked the internet, and Knight is still alive and working in Maine at the age of 61.

This book tells the story of a rather unique individual and raises many questions about how one might live their life.  I love my occasional solitude, but am grateful for family and friends and the quiet of rural Vermont and the bustle of urban Cambridge.  I would go stark raving mad living as Knight did, but he might have had the same reaction had he lived my life.  As my maternal grandmother, Bella used to say, “That’s why there’s chocolate and vanilla”.