The Man Who Quit Money
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4.1 • 70 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Grand Prize Winner of the 2015 Green Book Festival
Mark Sundeen's new book, The Unsettlers, is coming in January 2017 from Riverhead Books
In 2000, Daniel Suelo left his life savings-all thirty dollars of it-in a phone booth. He has lived without money-and with a newfound sense of freedom and security-ever since. The Man Who Quit Money is an account of how one man learned to live, sanely and happily, without earning, receiving, or spending a single cent. Suelo doesn't pay taxes, or accept food stamps or welfare. He lives in caves in the Utah canyonlands, forages wild foods and gourmet discards. He no longer even carries an I.D. Yet he manages to amply fulfill not only the basic human needs-for shelter, food, and warmth-but, to an enviable degree, the universal desires for companionship, purpose, and spiritual engagement. In retracing the surprising path and guiding philosophy that led Suelo into this way of life, Sundeen raises provocative and riveting questions about the decisions we all make, by default or by design, about how we live-and how we might live better.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 2000, Daniel Suelo left his last $30 in a truck stop phone booth. Since then, he has "not earned, received, or spent a single dollar." He does not receive any government assistance and accepts only charity that is freely given. He currently resides in a cave in Utah's Moab Desert, where he primarily lives off the land. In this inspiring book, Sundeen (Car Camping) tells Suelo's remarkable life story and the circumstances surrounding his decision to "quit money." Suelo came from a family of fundamentalist Christians, but in college at the University of Colorado, he became fascinated with other world religions particularly Hinduism and Buddhism which he would explore more thoroughly on a trip to Thailand and India. While volunteering with the Peace Corps in Ecuador, Suelo came out as gay to his parents, whose refusal to accept this fact plunged Suelo into depression. Disillusioned with the world, Suelo scaled back on life, eschewing a steady job for couch surfing, volunteer work, and adventures, including working on a salmon boat, hiking Alaska's Resurrection Mountains, and hitchhiking across the country in 2000, when he finally abandoned money. Sundeen provides details of Suelo's day-to-day life, and the guiding philosophies that have enabled him, in his own words, "to live with zero money Abundantly." Suelo's mission and ethos are truly admirable, and his story is equally compelling.
Customer Reviews
Inspiring and thought-provoking
Though most of us won't follow Suelo's radical path, his story is a powerful reminder that in the midst of our materialistic, consumption-driven culture we can strive towards taking only what we need and give while expecting nothing; true happiness and peace can come from simplifying our lives and tapping into the eternal abundance that surrounds us.
Moab here I come
This book opened my mind even more and helped me with some personal struggles.
Fantastic
An entertaining, compelling, thought-provoking and inspiring journey. I loved this book.