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Astoria Non-fiction Book Club

Welcome to the Astoria Non-fiction Book Club! This is a space for progressive-minded folks to meet (in-person) and discuss our favorite non-fiction books. We're based in Astoria, but open to people from all around the city.

A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears)

"Simultaneously hilarious, poignant, and deeply unsettling" (New Republic)
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.

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304 pages

Average rating: 7.3

10 RATINGS

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1 REVIEW

Community Reviews

littlebip
Feb 06, 2022
Grafton, NH is the scene of this historical account of people trying to create a [tax]-free area in a remote region of the state; who would have guessed that black bears would play a significant role in the outcome of that effort. Well written and amusing, with many "wow" moments.

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