The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel

At first, he was reluctant to talk, but the author found ways to make him more comfortable.

The author traveled to Montana for the first of nine interviews with Knight. They start writing letters to each other, but Knight abruptly ends communication due to stress from his new circumstances. He sees Knight as someone who has escaped the noise of modern life and wants to learn more about him. The arrest of a hermit makes national news and attracts the attention of Finkel. A game warden who was also a former Marine Sergeant used Homeland Security surveillance equipment in his spare time to help catch Knight. Some people were sympathetic to him because he only stole inexpensive things from vacation homes while avoiding doing damage to them others were scared by his actions.

He had been stealing food and other items over the course of twenty years. In 2013, Christopher Knight was arrested for stealing from a camp facility. In this expanded version of his 2014 GQ article “The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit,” he shares more information with readers to tell a fuller story. The author learned about him through interviews, letters, and research. He was first discovered when he broke into someone’s cabin and stole supplies. The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel is a nonfiction book about a man who lived alone for 27 years in the Maine wilderness. It is a gripping story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded.1-Page Summary of The Stranger In The Woods Overall Summary Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of his secluded life-why did he leave? what did he learn?-as well as the challenges he has faced since returning to the world. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothing, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries. Living in a tent even through brutal winters, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store edibles and water, and to avoid freezing to death. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later, when he was arrested for stealing food. In 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old named Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. “A meditation on solitude, wildness and survival.” - The Wall Street Journal The remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years, making this dream a reality-not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own.