Man Bites Log: The Unlikely Adventures of a City Guy in the Woods

Rating:
Summary: Quite Dissapointed in This Book
Review: I was really excited when this book arrived. I was looking forward to the trials and tribulations from a family that goes through a major life change.

Some of that came through but what ruined this book for me was Mr Alexander's inability to keep his personal anti-republican views out of the text.

When discussing eating his Guinea Hens in Chapter 50, he proclaims " The French, as many celebrities but few Republicans grasp, were right as usual".

He slanders the President in Chapter 55. He also see fit to dislike airlines (though he flys quite frequently, and he even calls Chef Emeril a "snakeoil" salesman.

What we have here is a hypocrite. He hates progress, except when it suits him (his DSL line) and wants to protect nature but never worried about all the trees that died while he was an executive for 2 major American magazines which gave him the money to persue his so called simple life.

I feel he only used this book to push his own personal agenda.

Rating:
Summary: A back-to-the-land book that's funny, pointed, and resonant.
Review: It's a one-in-a-million person who will chuck a high-powered city job, try to make it in a rural setting, and write a book about it. Given the population of the USA, this means that there are hundreds of those books by now, crammed with condescending character studies and unfunny "revelations" about how hard it is to get along without imported wheatgrass juice on the corner.

THIS book, however, is a gem.

Max Alexander is a hard worker, an honest guy, and nobody's rube. His observations aren't candy-coated, his jokes are pointed and funny, and he isn't afraid to take sides. In particular, his town's battle to keep a gravel mine and asphalt plant away is a nuanced and revealing portrait of small-town politics. But it's not an "aww shucks" portrait; asses are kicked. Max cares about his family, cares about his land, and cares about creating a balanced life, and this book is a good, resonant read for cubicle-dwellers and farm-dwellers alike.

Rating:
Summary: He got it right.
Review: Max Alexander ran a big risk with his book "Man Bites Log". Having recently moved to Maine from "Outastate", his comments on the locals and their scene could have alienated him beyond the pale.

As one of his subjects in this work, I was apprehensive, to say the least, when the book came out. Instead, I found a totally honest and somewhat funny approach to the life up here in the woods. Max captured the flavor and feel of our community, warts and all, and as a good reporter, he got it right. His comments on the actual events surrounding our neighbors are refreshing and honest. Even if you don't agree with his political views, he lays it all out as it is, and none of this is made up. Life can be hard but the humor he finds in these events is precious to those of us who lived through it all.

I look forward to the sequel!

I highly recommend this book, especially if you are contemplating moving to the woods.

Rating:
Summary: Man bites log--E.B. White reborn
Review: One Man's Meat may well have been a log, at least judging from a back-to-back reading of E.B. White's "One Man's Meat" and Max Alexander's "Man Bites Log". The prime difference lies in the time frame: Mr. White writing from a pre and WWII time frame and Mr. Alexander from a turn of the century (21st). Having shared the same back roads and shopping experiences with Alexander, I find his thoughts on the contrasts of urban and rural lifestyles to be honest and witty to say the least. Maine is "The Way Life Should Be" and to those of us who make this state our home, it is the way life is. Alexander captures the heartiness and joy of this lifestyle in his collection of essays. What E.B. White gave to our fathers and mothers, Max Alexander deals up fresh for a new generation that holds close to the values of former times. Thank you Max, for a work well done.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent !
Review: The plain spoken and funny observations of a back-to-the-land author on the rural life in cental Maine. His reflections on the "Mainers" and those "from away" that now populate this area in quiet simplicity are very familiar. I too moved to Maine from Chicago about 3 years ago to return to a more genuine way of life. I have come to appreciate this way of life and it's characters.
The author has a very comfortable and familiar way of speaking to the reader. I highly recommend this book.