The Unsettlers

By Mark Sundeen,

Book cover of The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today's America

Book description

“An in-depth and compelling account of diverse Americans living off the grid.” —Los Angeles Times

The radical search for the simple life in today’s America.

On a frigid April night, a classically trained opera singer, five months pregnant, and her husband, a former marine biologist, disembark an Amtrak train in…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked The Unsettlers as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I read this in the early days of my fantasizing about off-grid living, and I found a true kindred spirit in Sundeen and the remarkable new-gen back-to-the-land pioneers he followed to write the three deep-dive stories that form this beautiful book.

Sundeen is a master of the immersive journalism genre in the vein of Jon Krakauer or Sebastian Junger and a true writer’s writer (i.e., never in love with the sound of his own voice, yet blows you away with the choiceness and poignancy of his storytelling). That this book isn’t yet more widely known is astonishing.

Want books like The Unsettlers?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Unsettlers.

Browse books like The Unsettlers

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in self-sustainability, sustainable living, and simple living?

Simple Living 11 books