The Stranger in the Woods: Well Written, Even-Handed, Deeply Personal Biography

Book Review: The Stranger in the Woods: by Michael Finkel
Version: Library eBook Borrow

The full title of this book is The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit. It is, indeed, an extraordinary story. Whether the character in this true story is truly a hermit, as the character disputes, is padrt of what this story is about and which author Michael Finkel explores in part.

Christopher Knight disappeared at around the age of 20. He remained aloof from family and friends for approximately 25 years, living in the woods out of contact with others, although he could never fully escape the sounds of those who inhabited the nearby cabins and homes and a nearby camp. He, in turn, had an impact on them when he put off starving by invading their cabins, homes, and camp to steal food and clothing and other things he needed to survive. Yet Knight was disciplined in his thievery, never harming anyone and never damaging property. What he wanted - needed - was solitude, and so, he lived alone, surrounded really only by nature.

Knight was eventually caught and jailed, and journalist Michael Finkel contacted him, first by mail and then by visiting him several times in jail. What he found was a man unprepared to deal with others, who could not meet another's gaze, who while he attempted to interact with his jail mates ultimately failed to adequately socialize. Knight and Finkel formed not a friendship but an acquaintance as Finkel learned his story and tried to figure out what made Knight "tick", over seven months. Finkel lived in Montana so had to travel to Maine, leaving behind his wife and children to pursue this story. Throughout their interactions, Knight never really came to appreciate their interactions and after his case finally came to court and resolution, begged to be left alone.

Throughout this book, Finkel analyzes what makes for a true hermit and whether Knight fits that mold. He explores other explanations based on psychologist examinations and discussions with other psychologists. It may be that Knight was autistic or a schizoid or other diagnosis of a person who finds human interaction difficult to deal with. But entirely, this is a thoroughly humane look at a person who needed to step away from humanity for relief from continual bombardment of social cues and expectations that he couldn't understand or meet. At one point, Knight suggests what he wants is to wander off into the woods once again in the deep of winter and let Mother Nature take him, and Finkel panics, unsure whether to intervene in some way, breaking his bond with Knight, or stay silent, breaking a moral or ethical barrier.

The Stranger in the Woods is a well written, even-handed yet deeply personal biography of a troubled soul, someone who was possibly best left alone by society but best served by the telling of his story. You can be the judge by reading Knight's story. I think you will be touched by the pure honesty of the subject and the author in dealing with the details.

The Accountant: Part Slick Spy Novel, Part Skillful Detective Page Turner

Movie Review: The Accountant (2016)
Version: Library Borrow

Christian Wolf is in the cross hairs of the Treasury Department, so this is a mystery. Bad guys are in Christian Wolf's cross hairs, so this is a thriller. But The Accountant is so much more than a mystery thriller. It's a deep exploration into Christian Wolf as a character that led up to these cross hairs in a complex plot line that switches back and forth over decades exploring his childhood growing up severe autism and his life as an accountant for average Americans but more importantly for gang lords and international money launderers.

Dana Cummings is the special agent for the Treasury department tasked by Director Ray King to track down Wolf. Cummings has a questionable past, which she lied about on her security application, but she turns out to be as good a field agent as the analyst she's been hiding as, and King blackmails her into pursuing Wolf to save her job. Part of the mystery is why.

Wolf is played deftly by Ben Affleck as a quiet, socially awkward accountant with amazing math and pattern-recognition skills. Anna Kendrick is excellent as Cummings, the unsure analyst thrown into field work with the threat of discovery hovering over her head. J.K. Simmons is the consummate brash lead investigator begging for a comeuppance. Then we are introduced to Lamar Blackburn, a billionaire prosthetics developer played by John Lithgow, who can play a bad guy as deliciously as a good guy, so you don't know till it's too late which his character is, and his brash body guard Brax, played by Jon Bernthal. And the plots thicken and twist.

What's remarkable about this film is the way it interplays between slick spy novel with tones of superhero mythos, skillful detective page turner with tones of urgent FBI manhunt, and caring romantic study of the life of an autistic child who is forced to grow into a productive life. Wolf's father is a military man who hires martial arts experts to train his sons in self defense because he fears they may be abused or taken advantage later in life, then encourages them to street fight bullies who have made fun of them in school. The result is that Christian Wolf is still autistic but he can handle the world but the world isn't ready for Christian Wolf.

There are lots of amazing scenes of Wolf's early years that demonstrate severe autism and its effects on children and their families. In one early scene, Wolf is working a jig saw puzzle with the picture side down and nearly completes it by pattern recognition alone, but one piece is missing and he goes ballistic. He must complete the puzzle! It takes another autistic child watching him to calm him down. This scene is key to later in the film as Wolf requires closure on the things he starts and deals with the people in his life. If you have ever wondered about people with autism, this film is an interesting exploration of their world.

This is one of Affleck's better movies. He doesn't come off wooden in it. It paces well for two hours and eight minutes. And the ending is full of surprises. I can highly recommend The Accountant for audiences teen and older. There are some scenes that may be a bit scary for kids, not to mention lots of martial arts and gun shots to the head.

Best Boy: A Sunday Well Spent Reading

Book Review: Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb

I thought it was going to be a long read. I breezed through it on a Sunday. I thought it was going to be an informative read. It was insightful but a tough read for its frankness. If you know anyone who is autistic and wondered what it's like to have autism, this is a good book to give you hints.

Best Boy is the story by award-winning author Eli Gottlieb about Todd Aaron, who lives in a group facility for those who have developmental disabilities. His disability is that he has autism, and the story, written in the first person, provides details in the narrative style of what it's like to have autism: How someone with autism feels, thinks, reacts, and exists in a world dominated by people who don't understand - and often don't care - how autism affects them.

Todd's mother was very loving and protective. She tried to find facilities for Todd for the day when she could no longer care for him. And then she died. His father had died before her, leaving Todd's younger brother to look after Todd's interests. But living 700 miles away, he doesn't make it over very often to see Todd. That leaves it to the staff to look after Todd. The community is mixture of interesting characters, including Todd's roommate, who doesn't like Todd and is out to prove that Todd is a slacker, and when Todd maps out a plan to run away for home, his roommate tries to turn him in. There is a love interest, too, and a young woman who is taken advantage of by a new staff member who is also paired with Todd and who coerces Todd into keeping the details a secret. Best of all, there is a staff advocate who helps Todd through the rough times and keeps him out of trouble, especially at a critical moment in the story.

Best Boy is a good, quick read, dramatic and well paced. But what I enjoyed most about it was its remarkable descriptions of what it is like to have autism. Autism is a scale of effects, no two people necessarily having the same symptoms, but if you know someone with autism you will likely recognize many of the effects. Todd speaks of rocking back and forth when excited or upset, and feeling a jolt when antagonized, for instance. But he also details what's going on in his mind - how he sees the world and how he reads people, and how that forms his decisions and how he reacts to situations. Todd also talks about his medications and how they make him feel.

I don't know where Gottlieb got his information about the effects of autism - he has written about the topic before - but from those I know who have autism, it seems spot on.

In some ways, Best Boy was a depressing read. But in other ways, it was a very revealing read and for the character Todd, it ends well. I borrowed the book from my local library to learn more about autism and felt it was a Sunday well spent reading.