Coming Out of the Woods: The Solitary Life of a Maverick Environmentalist

During the 1960s and 70s, many young people were exploring alternative lifestyles. Back to nature, contemplation, and freedom from a material life were blowing in the wind. Mother Earth News, Stalking the Wild Asparagus, and Walden were just a few of the influential texts. Wallace Kaufman had lived in cities but possessed a keen interest in nature and living within it. Thoreau spent only two years at Walden, but Wallace spends twenty years in the woods. To have sufficient seclusion, he buys a large wooded tract, names it Saralyn, and subdivides it into large parcels for others seeking to be closer to nature. He is thrust into the role of developer and known in the local village as "the mayor of Hippie Town." Teaching English literature at the University of North Carolina is little preparation for his undertaking. He agonizes over removing trees and scarring land required to cut a road into Saralyn. Wallace is a man driven to pursue his dream and speak his mind regardless of political consequences. It costs him his job and his marriage, leaving him with Saralyn and shared custody of Sylvan, his three-year-old daughter. Wallace is a romantic with wide-open eyes. Research and keen observation allow him to read the messages of nature with a long-term view, both past and future. His grounding in literature is the basis for analysis and conclusions, which are often at odds with sages who have preceded him. This is a story of growth and change - of Wallace, Sylvan, and Saralyn. With its colorful characters and anecdotes, "Coming Out of the Woods" would rate five stars if it offered no more, but Wallace gives us insight into our relationship with nature and its salvation.

Here is a writer who conveys the complexity and beauty of nature without putting on rose colored glasses. Coming Out of the Woods inspires, entertains, informs and tells a page-turner story that reveals how all human interaction with nature demands tradeoffs. Think of it as an update of Thoreau's Walden, but with a strong story line and conclusions appropriate for our time. I recommend it highly for introductory environmental studies courses, American literature courses, or courses on literature and the environment.Orrin Pilkey James B. Duke Professor of Geology Emeritus Duke University

Kaufman spends twenty years doing what all of us nature lovers think we could do-Live alone in the woods for a lifetime. Well Kaufman isn't always alone and 20 years may not be a lifetime but it is a signifcant commitment to "the simple Life." And the revelations Kaufman comes back with are not exactly what one might expect. Like modern advancements and capitalism is good for nature? Not totally, but similar to Bill Bryson's observations in his big hit A Walk in the Woods, the reality of modern enviromentalist's ideals is not always what it is cracked up to be. And I think 240 months(20 times longer than Thoreau) in the woods qualifies Kaufman as much as any body to say so. Though he lacks Bryson's swift narrative and comical anecdotes, what we gain from Kaufman is an update from Walden Pond that we might be surprised to read. The book will also help quell any idyllic thoughts you might have about dropping out of society to pursue a life in the woods. Because after finishing this book you may find that Kaufman's experience was enough.

I have to admit that I approached this book with some hesitation. I did not want to read yet another polemic on the good, the bad, and the ugly in environmental politics. And much to my relief and pleasure, this book does not go in that direction. Instead, it is a compelling narrative of one man's effort to reach an accord with the dynamic and changing forest in which he has been living for over thirty years. In the process, Kaufman tests his and his friends idealized and often romanticized notions of Nature against the realities of road building, flying squirrels, and devastating hurricanes. Kaufman uses Thoreau as his touchstone, but takes the latter's two-year experiment and expands it into a life's study. As he digs the foundation of his house, he discovers the pre-history of the Morgan Branch forest; and as his lives in his completed house, he begins to understand the often harsh ecology of the place. His great past time is hunting for edible mushrooms, often in the company of his daughter. These hunts provide a paradigm for the entire book in which the ability to discern fine details makes for enjoyable eating or, in this case, reading.