A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear
The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and Some Bears)
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A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear
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Narrated by:
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Written by:
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Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling
About this listen
A tiny American town's plans for radical self-government overlooked one hairy detail: no one told the bears.
Once upon a time, a group of libertarians got together and hatched the Free Town Project, a plan to take over an American town and completely eliminate its government. In 2004, they set their sights on Grafton, NH, a barely populated settlement with one paved road.
When they descended on Grafton, public funding for pretty much everything shrank: the fire department, the library, the schoolhouse. State and federal laws became meek suggestions, scarcely heard in the town's thick wilderness.
The anything-goes atmosphere soon caught the attention of Grafton's neighbors: the bears. Freedom-loving citizens ignored hunting laws and regulations on food disposal. They built a tent city in an effort to get off the grid. The bears smelled food and opportunity.
A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying tale of what happens when a government disappears into the woods. Complete with gunplay, adventure, and backstabbing politicians, this is the ultimate story of a quintessential American experiment - to live free or die, perhaps from a bear.
©2020 Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling (P)2020 PublicAffairsWhat the critics say
"[A] witty and precisely observed debut....Hongoltz-Hetling skillfully probes shortcomings and ironies in the libertarian philosophy....The result is an entertaining and incisive portrait of political ideology run amok." —Publishers Weekly
"An entertaining sendup of idealistic politics and the fatal flaws of overweening self-interest." —Kirkus
"Since the beginning, Americans have been fighting about the balance between individual liberty and the common good. Hongoltz-Hetling shows what can happen when one rural New Hampshire town went to the libertarian extreme in this madcap tale that zig-zags between tragedy and farce, with the possibility of being eaten." —Colin Woodard, New York Times best-selling author of American Nations and Union
What listeners say about A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ghislain Harbec
- 2023-03-02
Easily one of the best nonfiction books I've read
Loved the book, the writer weaves various events into a gripping tale of man, freedom and bears. The narrator does a great job conveying that book in a particularly engaging way.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Qyn
- 2023-03-12
I couldn’t stop listening!
I needed something to listen to while on a trip to Asia. This audiobook was simultaneously entertaining and informative and so well paced and narrated I was unable to sleep on multiple long rides on public transit. “Just ten more minutes” and suddenly it’s been three hours. Story is also extremely satisfying to learn… with satisfying (and inevitable) conclusions.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Daniel Beech
- 2024-11-12
Is this book about libertarians or bears?
I went into this book expecting a front to back insight and exploration of the rise and fall of the libertarian town that was eventually overrun with bears and bad policy. Unfortunately all I really got was a painfully smug story about a handful of eccentric characters from Grafton and their encounters with bears and taxes. I honestly think I learned more about the nature of wild bears than almost anything concrete about libertarian concepts or values. I would say this one isn't really worth your time or energy.
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