Book Discussion "A Libertarian Walks into a Bear" by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling

Our book for December is A Libertarian Walks into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (And Some Bears) by journalist Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling.

From Amazon:
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…The anything-goes atmosphere soon caught the attention of Grafton's neighbors: the bears…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.

"[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