Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I don't really have something against memoirs that ramble with religion and promise that providence looks out to people who surrender to it. I just didn't expect that from this book. It's marketed and reviewed as a well-written, cheerful guide to living off the grid. I don't use the word rambly loosely: the first half of the book is an exploration of the author's philosophy -- some of which I happen to agree with -- but it's drawn out and he has a habit of interrupting his own thought trains with asides to his asides. I wish that his editor had worked to tighten things up a bit, and make it so that paragraphs and chapters felt like they built toward something. They instead feel like they'd be more appropriate as one-off blog posts. It would also have benefited from better copy editing. Halfway through the book we start getting the story of how different structures in the compound arose, peppered with their spiritual effects on visitors. There's also a short section on projects, but I found them too full of jargon or flat-out confusing to be practicable. The author admits that since all of the DIY information you need can be found on the internet, his book was meant only to give you some sort of inspiration to seek those projects out. It falls short of that mark for me, and you could say that he's even had the chance to preach to the choir. I suspect that the book will only appeal to people who are already enthusiastic about Carns' compound and philosophies.