The Unsettlers

The Unsettlers follows three couples who have chosen to reject modern consumer capitalism in favor of radical simplicity and self-sufficiency. Author Mark Sundeen documents their daily lives, philosophies, and the paths that led them to embrace an alternative American dream. Through direct observation and immersive reporting, Sundeen chronicles a year with urban farmers in Missouri, off-grid homesteaders in Montana, and activist farmers in Detroit. He captures the practical realities of their lifestyles - from growing food to building shelter to navigating relationships within and outside their communities. The couples demonstrate different approaches to sustainable living, from complete withdrawal from the cash economy to community-focused urban agriculture. Their stories intersect with broader social movements including environmentalism, food justice, and resistance to corporate agriculture. The book examines what it means to live according to one's principles in an age of convenience and consumption. Through these profiles, Sundeen raises questions about the costs and rewards of choosing an alternative path, and whether true sustainability is possible within modern American society.

Readers appreciated Sundeen's intimate portraits of three families pursuing sustainable living, with many noting the realistic, warts-and-all depiction of their struggles. The detailed research and immersive reporting helped readers understand the practical challenges of living off-grid. Readers highlighted that the book avoids romanticizing the lifestyle while showing concrete examples of how people make alternative living work financially and logistically. Common criticisms focused on the book's pacing, with several readers finding the narrative structure meandering. Some felt Sundeen included too many personal details about his own life. Multiple reviews mentioned the book could have covered more diverse examples of sustainable communities. Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 3.7/5 (1,100+ ratings) Amazon: 4.1/5 (115+ ratings) "Shows the unglamorous reality of sustainable living" - Goodreads reviewer "Too much author insertion into the story" - Amazon reviewer "Practical look at how people actually make this work" - LibraryThing reviewer

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The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball A Manhattan writer documents her journey from city life to operating a full-diet CSA farm in upstate New York with her farmer husband.

🌱 Author Mark Sundeen spent nearly five years following and documenting the lives of modern homesteaders, living among them to gain firsthand experience of their lifestyle choices. 🏡 One of the book's main subjects, Ethan Hughes, gave up using electricity completely and travels exclusively by bicycle, even making 350-mile journeys on two wheels. 🌾 The Detroit urban farmers featured in the book transformed over 20 vacant lots into productive gardens, helping to provide fresh food in an area considered a "food desert." 📚 Sundeen previously lived in a tent in Moab, Utah, and worked as a river guide, experiences that helped inform his understanding of living closer to nature. 🔄 The couples profiled in the book actually represent three different generations of back-to-the-land movements: the 1970s homesteaders, the 1990s urban farmers, and the post-2008 recession pioneers.