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Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living | 
| Author: Doug Fine
Publisher: Villard
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
Buy New: $12.75
You Save: $11.25 (47%)
New (46) Used (10) from $12.75
Avg. Customer Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 9818
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.9
ISBN: 1400066441
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.72092
EAN: 9781400066445
ASIN: 1400066441
Publication Date: March 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
Advance praise for Farewell, My Subaru
“Fine is Bryson Funny.” ——Santa Cruz Sentinel
“Fine is an amiable and self-deprecating storyteller in the mold of Douglas Adams. If you're a fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-style humor -- and also looking to find out how to raise your own livestock to feed your ice-cream fetish -- Farewell may prove a vital tool.” —— The Washington Post
“Fine is an eco-hero for our time..” —— Miami Herald
“An afterward offers solid advice and sources for learning more.” —— On Earth Magazine, Natural Resources Defense Fund
“This is Green Acres for the smart set—: a witty and educational look at sustainable living. Buy it, read it, compost it.”
–A. J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically
“The details of Doug Fine’s experiment in green living are great fun——but more important is the spirit, the dawning understanding that living in connection to something more tangible than a computer mouse is what we were built for. It’ll make you want to move!”
–Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
Like many Americans, Doug Fine enjoys his creature comforts, but he also knows full well they keep him addicted to oil. So he wonders: Is it possible to keep his Netflix and his car, his Wi-Fi and his subwoofers, and still reduce his carbon footprint?
In an attempt to find out, Fine up and moves to a remote ranch in New Mexico, where he brazenly vows to grow his own food, use sunlight to power his world, and drive on restaurant grease. Never mind that he’s never raised so much as a chicken or a bean. Or that he has no mechanical or electrical skills.
Whether installing Japanese solar panels, defending the goats he found on Craigslist against coyotes, or co-opting waste oil from the local Chinese restaurant to try and fill the new “veggie oil” tank in his ROAT (short for Ridiculously Oversized American Truck), Fine’s extraordinary undertaking makes one thing clear: It ain’t easy being green. In fact, his journey uncovers a slew of surprising facts about alternative energy, organic and locally grown food, and climate change.
Both a hilarious romp and an inspiring call to action, Farewell, My Subaru makes a profound statement about trading today’s instant gratifications for a deeper, more enduring kind of satisfaction.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
 Farewell My Brain July 5, 2008
I purchased the book after I heard on on-air interview with the author. The author made the book sound like it was a trip down the lessons learned trail on the subjects of switching to Bio-Fuels, Solar Power, and Wind energy. I was sadly mistaken. A book that had the makings for a really good read turned out to be an ego trip for the author. It was as if the author wrote one-half of it and sent it off to be printed. A large portion of the book was a weak attempt to chew anyone out who does not use bio-fuels or who does not believe in what the author believes in. It was a very quick disappointing read. I am not sure if his "scientific" facts are correct.
 An entertaining read June 28, 2008
Easy to read. This is a good story about a successful fulfillment of a dream. This is not a technical book--there are plenty of those around. This is the story of personal tribulations and adjustments. I recommend it to anyone who is considering living off the grid or just going back to the land.
Great funny and informative read! June 24, 2008
Doug is very clever with words making this book hilarious. his adventures of going green are inspiring and informative. it was really real to read about his blumbers and trials.
clever.
highly receomend this book. i read it amazingly fast and then wished i had more of it to read!
Pretty practical, if a little too wrapped up in emotion and politics June 22, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Doug Fine writes a good book, and for all of his North East liberalism has learned how to live a simpler life. Not practical for us all of course, but at least Doug is willing to put his money where his mouth is...something the liberals in Congress should try doing sometime. Doug's a little to wrapped up in "evil Republicans/Conservatives" and "I'm doing this to save the world and prove my own magnificence to those around me" for my taste. If you want to live on a ranch in the Southwest, do it because you want to do it. Don't do it because you feel guilty for being alive, being an American, or for living in a post-industrial age.
 Disappointing June 14, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm as green as they come, and therefore figured I'd thoroughly enjoy this book and find it informative, but I was mistaken.
The problem starts with the author, who obviously believes himself to be hilarious. Unfortunately, he isn't the slightest bit funny. Time and time again he forces similes and metaphors into the writing that aren't the least creative or, in many cases, even apt. All of his attempts at colorful language and humor fall completely flat. It's actually painful to read. Even if you don't mind your humor served up as heaping doses of bland cliche, you'll still have to tolerate the author's obsession with his upbringing. Time and time again he mentions he's from the East, a Long Island kid, a suburbanite. He desperately wants his readers to understand how "wild and nutty" he is for giving it all up and moving to, of all places...gasp...New Mexico!
Worst of all is that you'll learn almost nothing from the book, other than it's difficult to raise goats (what a revelation), and converting your truck to burn vegetable oil is, apparently, problematic (what a revelation).
If the author wants to be taken seriously, then he has to take his craft seriously. Readers looking for information about going green could get infinitely more help by spending five minutes talking to an organic farmer or alternative energy specialist.
How this book could possibly collect a bundle of 5-star reviews is beyond me. It's barely a step above terrible. Spend your book money and time wisely...by spending them elsewhere.
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