The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living
(One World Publications, $22.95) is author Mark Boyle‘s quest to find out. After talking with some friends about global issues and feeling like there was little he could do to change the world for the better, the proverbial lightbulb went on. “That evening, I realized that these symptoms of global malaise were not as unrelated as I had previously thought and the common thread of a major cause ran through them: our disconnection from what we consume,” Boyle writes. He takes on the challenge of living without money for one year, exploring what it was like when people had to barter for goods and services. Setting up a trailer he obtained for free, on a farm where he volunteered his time in exchange for the land to park it, Boyle’s book recounts every process and decision made to stay afloat. From cycling everywhere, be it in snow or rain, to growing, bartering and foraging everything he ate, Boyle’s adventure is one of determination and offers readers tips for scaling back their own lives along the way.
