Last American Man 1

I could come up with a number of reasons that Gilbert wrote this book: to tell people her love’s story, to teach people about the mentality needed to live in the wilderness, etc… but I don’t think they’re true. I don’t know why she wrote the book, and I don’t think she quite knows why either. I think she might have written it to come at peace with herself about an unresolved issue in her life. A lot of people write about something simply because they need to get it off their chest, and it helps a lot of people come to a realization about an issue in their life that they wouldn’t be able to understand without having written something. I could also come up with a number of passages in the book, but I think what is written on the back of the book is sufficient. “As she thoughtfully examines Conway and all he embodies, the inconography of American manhood comes alive in all its conflicting elements of inventiveness, charisma, narcissism, and intimacy.” She is precisely writing about the story of his life- trying to realize the truth about this man, and perhaps even if she really loved him or not. Conway’s morals are questionable, but he had a hard foundation of his life style that could be admired by some. I think Conway was trying to come to a consensus with herself of what she really thought about him.