Doug Fine

I found this book both facile and deeply disturbing. Fine struck me as a whiny, yuppie with at best a half-assed commitment to the environment. I didn't like the tone, I didn't like the way he went about his alleged conversion, and I found most, if not all, of his conclusions completely flawed. I suspect that if I had read this before I was eyeball deep in the stunning, life-altering [b:What We Leave Behind|5715231|What We Leave Behind|Derrick show more Jensen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255633170s/5715231.jpg|5886847], I might have judged Fine more leniently. Fine's changes are superficial and don't address the fact that the cultural model itself is what's in need of dismantling. If Fine is an example of what we think we need to do to save the earth, we are in even worse shape than I feared. show less

Former New York suburbanite Doug Fine recounts the triumphs and tribulations that ensue when he moves to a ranch in New Mexico in an attempt to reduce his environmental footprint as much as possible, while not entirely giving up such modern luxuries as iPods and ice cream. Which may not be the world's most compelling personal adventure, but it's interesting enough and often very amusing. Fine is serious and enthusiastic about green living without coming across as a zealot, and his style is show more more self-deprecating than self-righteous. (Although his, "Oh, gosh, I'm a crunchy liberal partly surrounded by people who voted for Bush!"-type jokes sometimes feel a little self-consciously awkward.) It's an entertaining read for those who simply enjoy anecdotes about, say, a guy running out of his house naked in a (largely futile) attempt to chase off a coyote, but I imagine it's likely to be particularly appealing and perhaps even useful to those contemplating adopting this sort of lifestyle themselves, as Fine is extremely candid about the difficulties and compromises involved, as well as the rewards. Although he also makes me wonder how the heck anybody manages to afford the initial outlay.

My one real complaint is that the little enviro-fact boxes scattered randomly throughout the text are annoyingly distracting. I think I'll choose to believe those were insisted on by the editor. show less

As entertainment, this book is highly enjoyable. As a call to action, it is less effective. I very much liked Fine's writing style and his accounts of the misadventures he experienced when moving to New Mexico and trying to go "off the grid." My favorite parts were the ones about the animals: the goats, the chickens, the coyote, the rattlesnake. Fine is a strange combination of practicality and what he terms the "whoo-whoo," New Agey, meditating, organic type. He knows how to laugh at show more himself and life.

Unfortunately, if I were reading this as an inspiration to go green, I would be put off. Fine had the advantages of an apparently very healthy bank account and a career that allows him to work from wherever he may be. He admitted to spending something like $40,000 on the solar panels for his home, after having already purchased the ranch. Then he bought a huge truck and had it converted to run on vegetable oil. Then he made tanks to heat his water. Not to mention the cost of housing and keeping livestock that would not earn their keep for at least a year, if not more. I'm sure he will gain back all those costs in savings eventually, but it's an imposing amount of outlay at the get-go. And the labor involved in caring for the animals, gardening, traveling over flooded rivers, etc., is a bit overwhelming. So, it's a fun story but it doesn't make me want to dash out and disconnect from the power company! show less

Doug Fine's thoughts and recollections on his first year of sustainable and eco-friendly living this book is an accessible, funny, sensible foray into environmentally thoughtful living and environmentalism recommended for everyone. Despite your political affiliations, views on gun control, or religion (unless you bathe in oil and club baby seals before your breakfast of genetically modified food pellets) you will find Fine's treatise on the simple and immensely rewarding joys of sustainable show more living, growing your own food and connecting to the earth around you a tempting and rational call to another way of life.

Not only charming, hilarious and heart-winning, it is peppered with factoids and garnished with mouth watering recipes Fine prepared with his own cultivated and carefully tended fruits of labor. His dedication to his goals and aspirations is inspiring to say the least. I mean, I love ice cream. I love it enough to make it myself, but I don't know if I could go so far as to raise, vaccinate and shepherd goats for over a year in order to make it. And yet, when Fine describes it, it doesn't only seem possible, but enviable.

Fine weathers floods, droughts, hail, coyotes, loneliness, bureaucratic paperwork, clogged fuel lines, a runaway car, and all other unimaginable challenges with humor, grace and an indomitable spirit that keeps you cheering him on! While certainly an environmentalist, Fine is not strictly a vegetarian, and even hunts which might put off some hard core Greenies, but is forgivable given his unique attempt at the activity. show less