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A Walden for the 21st century, the true story of a man who has radically reinvented "the good life"
In 2000, Daniel Suelo left his life savings—all thirty dollars of it—in a phone booth. He has been living 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 our relationships with money and the decisions we all make, by default or by design—about how we live and how we might live better.
Moab2021
Posted April 2, 2012
BOOK REVIEW:
It is an honor to be called "Daniel's best friend" in this gripping book about him that describes how he learned to live abundantly by rejecting our cultural beliefs about money. Daniel and I were roommates at the University of Colorado 25 years ago and we have remained close ever since, living in the same tiny town in the desert. So the stories in this book are familiar and dear to me. Mark Sundeen retells Daniel Suelo's many adventures with vivid detail and incredulous mirth, letting the reader decide if he is a Prophet for our times or just a highly amusing bum. In my opinion, Sundeen makes a serious case for how Suelo contends for "the most interesting man in the world" title as he barely wins all-out fistfights with Death and personal demons on glaciers in Alaska, in a monastery in Thailand, or a remote village in Ecuador, and finally atop one of Colorado's highest peaks.
Sundeen also captured the highlights of each major stage in Daniel's spiritual life, showing his growth from an enthusiastic fundamentalist to a serious Old Testament scholar to a mystical cultural anthropologist to a gifted student of world religion to a disillusioned social worker to a desert naturalist to a beloved hobo to a profound visionary in our troubled economic times. More than that, Sundeen paints Daniel's portrait against the canvas of recent social and financial trends in America. He interrelates trickle-down Reaganomics, the rise of neo-Conservatism, the Religious Right and multinational corporations with the Occupy movement, the Rainbow gathering, social welfare programs, the growing rich-poor gap and "freegans" around the world. Before reading this book, it never occured to me how Daniel's life has consistently reflected the zeitgeist of our age.
CORRECTIONS:
I noticed a few minor inaccuracies related to my role in Daniel's life. For example, the Russian chess player Igor Ivanov who spent the whole night drinking vodka and arguing politics with Matthew was not just a master but an international grandmaster, the strongest chess mind ever to live in Utah. Also, I was living in California when my ex-girlfriend Linda awoke at three in the morning with a house full of smoke and a small fire burning through the floor where Daniel and Matthew left a candle unattended. She was livid the next day, especially because the imported rug had been a very sentimental gift from my mother. Expecting an apology from Daniel, instead she received a rebuke about being too attached to material objects. But Linda and I did not split up over this incident. The coffee-table that covered the hole in the rug was not Daniel's attempt to hide his mistake, as the text implies, but my own successful solution for "fixing" the whole situation with humor when I returned weeks later. Also, the verb "to hump" is not in my vocabulary, according to my wife, and I am embarrassed by the quotation attributed to me. But again Mark's main point in that paragraph is completely correct, showing the awkwardness between two Christian men, one gay and one heterosexual, who truly love each other after years of intentional celibacy through college.
These minor inaccuracies don't distract from the story, they make it more compelling. Sundeen did a wonderful job portraying the other characters I know, illustrating their dignity and wisdom with appropriate humor and their foibles and frustrations with kindness.
Damian Nash
Moab, Utah
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 12, 2012
Great book for anyone fed up with the controls of modern day society. I loved it.
Oops in Chapter 8 though. When describing the history of Moab Sundeen references the groundbreaking for the Eiffel tower in 1897. It was actual started in 1887.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.PreLawAdviser
Posted May 12, 2013
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. When I started reading it, I thought, how can anyone live without money? And what kind of crazy person would do that? But the more I read, the more I could see why Daniel Suelo chose to quit money and by the end, I was cheering him on! Mark Sundeen did an excellent job profiling this most interesting and fascinating man. This biography is beautifully written. Like other reviewers before me, I suspect I will be thinking about this book and Daniel's story for many, many years to come.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 20, 2012
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Posted December 1, 2012
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Posted November 29, 2012
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Overview
A Walden for the 21st century, the true story of a man who has radically reinvented "the good life"
In 2000, Daniel Suelo left his life savings—all thirty dollars of it—in a phone booth. He has been living 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 ...