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Stranger than fiction…

Author:  Michael Finkel

stranger in the woods coverMost of us would struggle to go 24 hours without any contact with another human being.  Try and get your mind around 27 years.  That’s what Christopher Knight did.  At the age of twenty – in 1986 – the Maine native disappeared into the woods and wasn’t seen or heard from again until his capture in 2013.  It may be the most audacious act of solitude in human history.  Was he crazy?  If not, what the heck was wrong with him?  Journalist Michael Finkel needed to know.  Doggedly following Knight’s well concealed trail, he uncovers a riveting – almost unbelievable – true story in The Stranger in the Woods.

Although he was a shy youngster, Knight was really a pretty ordinary kid.  There were no profound childhood traumas or pathologies to explain such an impulsive act.  But as you might expect at such a young age, he hadn’t planned his adventure very well, which resulted in him having to steal.  For almost three decades he repeatedly broke into the summer cottages surrounding North Pond in central Maine to obtain all the supplies he needed to survive at his secluded campsite.  Not just food, but propane tanks, razors, mattresses, hiking boots, car batteries and lots and lots of books and magazines.  How he managed to avoid capture for twenty-seven years is true testimony to the man’s remarkable skills.

It’s impossible to read this story without thinking back to another impulsive and stubborn loner named Christopher McCandless.  I kept thinking that this is how his story – as chronicled by Jon Krakauer in Into the Wild – might have turned out if only his survival (or burglary) skills were somewhat more sophisticated.  But it turns out that the similarities between the two Christophers are actually pretty superficial, although I think it’s safe to say that both books are sure to appeal to the same kind of reader.woods photo

Like Krakauer, Finkel does a great job drilling down to try and unearth his protagonist’s deepest motivations.  While he’s clearly in awe of the tenacity and skill it required to achieve this ultimate “off-the-grid” experience, he doesn’t hesitate to explore the moral ambiguities that accompany it.  Lurking throughout the story is the rather pathetic reality that Knight terrorized the unfortunate residents of North Pond for an awfully long time so that he could live the way he chose.

Adding another layer to the story, the book also reveals the struggles the author went through to bring the tale to life.  From beginning to end, Knight had absolutely no interest in talking to anyone about his story – or anything else.  Yet somehow, Finkel managed to form a tenuous bond with the man, piecing together the account based on nine one-hour interviews at the Kennebec County Correctional Facility.  Despite this paucity of source material, he manages to deftly assemble a multi-dimensional and fascinating biography that this reader couldn’t put down.

It’s a truly bizarre combination.  He was quite possibly the greatest solitary survivalist in history.  At the same time, he may have committed more petty burglaries than any living human.  Whatever you think of Christopher Knight – forever to be known as the North Pond Hermit – there’s no denying that The Stranger in the Woods makes for great reading.   Highly recommended.

— D. Driftless

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