A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear

The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears)

De: Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling

"Simultaneously hilarious, poignant, and deeply unsettling." ―The New Republic

A tiny American town's plans for radical self-government overlooked one hairy detail: no one told the bears. Once upon a time, a group of libertarians got together and hatched the Free Town Project, a plan to take over an American town and completely eliminate its government. In 2004, they set their sights on Grafton, NH, a barely populated settlement with one paved road. When they descended on Grafton, public funding for pretty much everything shrank: the fire department, the library, the schoolhouse. State and federal laws became meek suggestions, scarcely heard in the town's thick wilderness.

The anything-goes atmosphere soon caught the attention of Grafton's neighbors: the bears. Freedom-loving citizens ignored hunting laws and regulations on food disposal. They built a tent city in an effort to get off the grid. The bears smelled food and opportunity.

A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying tale of what happens when a government disappears into the woods. Complete with gunplay, adventure, and backstabbing politicians, this is the ultimate story of a quintessential American experiment -- to live free or die, perhaps from a bear.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"[A] witty and precisely observed debut....Hongoltz-Hetling skillfully probes shortcomings and ironies in the libertarian philosophy....The result is an entertaining and incisive portrait of political ideology run amok."
—Publishers Weekly

"An entertaining sendup of idealistic politics and the fatal flaws of overweening self-interest."
—Kirkus

"[Hongoltz-Hetling] reconstructs a remarkable, and remarkably strange, episode in recent history....The resulting narrative is simultaneously hilarious, poignant, and deeply unsettling."
—The New Republic

"Every once in a while, a book comes along that is so darkly comedic, with such a defined sense of place and filled with characters that range from the fascinating to the bizarre to the earnest, that partway through reading, it hits you: This has got to become a Coen brothers movie...Hongoltz-Hetling is a master of the turn of phrase. His voice is breezy and critical, with a finely tuned eye aimed at the absurdities as well as at the earnestness of the Free Town Project."
—Star Tribune

"Since the beginning, Americans have been fighting about the balance between individual liberty and the common good. Hongoltz-Hetling shows what can happen when one rural New Hampshire town went to the libertarian extreme in this madcap tale that zig-zags between tragedy and farce, with the possibility of being eaten."—Colin Woodard, New York Times-bestselling author of American Nations and Union

"A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is a finely drawn portrait of one freedom-loving town, and a joyful romp through the dark corners of the American psyche. Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling is a gifted writer with a high-powered radar for the strange details of American life. He skillfully portrays the dreamers and eccentrics who populate Grafton, and the bears lurking just beyond its treelines. At turns hilarious and alarming, this story had me firmly in its jaws from the opening pages."—Evan Ratliff, author of The Mastermind

"Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling's wild and wonderful blend of small-town America and large-scale ideals, imparted with humor and insight reminiscent of Sarah Vowell and Bill Bryson, is an unpredictable and endlessly fascinating feat of immersive reporting, filled with singular characters and doughnut-eating bears."—Michael Finkel, bestselling author of The Stranger in the Woods

“An alarming, eyebrow-raising and often hilarious true life tale of what happens when a fringe political ideology clashes with the real world, in ways which incorporate economics, conservation, zoology, parasitology, environmentalism, various types of psychology and animal behaviour studies, and more.”—BBC Science Focus

Crash course on the stupidity of Libertarianism

Libertarianism shouldn't be taken seriously as a political philosophy and this book illustrates why. They created an Ayn Rand "utopia" in New Hampshire and watched their experiment crumble as they couldn't even handle previously solved problems. They drove away everything good in the name of freedom while neighboring towns prospered through infrastructure improvements, public investments, governmental planning, and civic pride. As for the title of the book, it comes from the fact that by following Libertarian principles, they caused a rash of bear attacks in their community. A phenomenon not recorded in the area for a hundred years. The stories and people are compelling and the author made it a very interesting read.

Entertaining and surprising

I live in Enfield NH. Not far from Grafton. I knew some of the details from this book, but found it fascinating. For anybody who lives in New Hampshire or is just interested in the state this is a must read. I'm sure the Grafton bears have made their way to our bird feeder a time or two. one was destroyed. The second time it was a bit sturdier so could be repaired. I enjoyed the book and recommend it.

Eye opening

I live in Danbury, a town next to Grafton. This book was so enlightening to some of the odd happenings we have seen in the area for years.

So interesting!

1ofthebest

I'll be completely honest I didn't know what I was expecting from this book when I started. This is a very intricate and detailed story of a community told from the beginning of our nation's founding,Is through the present day.The narrator did an amazing job, reading the poetry and the stories of the people in this Community... The damages of accepting a total libertarianist society without having any form of regulation sing through this story..

Odd but good!

Plenty in here about libertarians, more than I expected about bears. A weird, meandering, take on the Free Town Project, well told and generally neutral in tone.

outstanding

the author tells a wonderful story of the lunacy that is libertarianism.

very funny. I purchased his new title immediately after finishing this one.

Most conflicted review I’ve ever written

If you’re looking for something informative stop here and go elsewhere. The book however is wildly interesting and entertaining.

At no point does the author define what a libertarian is and lumps most of the characters, many of which are absolute loons, under that banner.

Although the author is writing about history events, there is heavy emphasis on the absurd.

Anyone looking to deeply understand libertarianism needs to read Murray Rothbard’s “For a New Liberty”. This book is primarily about a crazy town and its most crazy residents.

Near the very end of this book the author casually depicts some of the characters as anarcho-communists. Once again he does not explain what that means but throughout most of the book you think you are led to believe the are libertarians.

This book is a road trip with your crazy uncle. Four stars for entertainment value. Zero stars for explaining libertarian ideology.

Buying this book to understand libertarianism would be like buying “The DaVinci Code” to understand Catholicism.

THIS THING IS WILD!

"Contrary to the libertarians expectation however, real life in the free town seemed to be almost the reverse of Rand's fictional vision"

Guns, bear, donuts, bears, legalizing incest and bum fights, more bears, guard llamas, inept survivalists, poaching, and still more bears. Do yourself a favor and check this out; the idiocy is incredible.

Short and sweet

This book feels timely with the current admin's response to the covid pandemic. It's part comedy, part tragedy. And all around fun read.

phenomenal

Excellent description of the ridiculous, counter intuitive, anti-social, selfish, and vapid ideals of the libertarian pphilosophy.