{"product_id":"a-libertarian-walks-into-a-bear-the-utopian-plot-to-liberate-an-american-town-and-some-bears-9781541788497","title":"A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and Some Bears)","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Simultaneously hilarious, poignant, and deeply unsettling.\" \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e―The New Republic\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA tiny American town's plans for radical self-government overlooked one hairy detail: no one told the bears.\u003c\/b\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Libertarian Walks Into a Bear\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMatthew Hongoltz-Hetling\u003c\/b\u003e is a freelance journalist specializing in narrative features and investigative reporting. He has been named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, won a George Polk Award, and been voted Journalist of the Year by the Maine Press association, among numerous other honors. His work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eForeign Policy, USA Today, Popular Science\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAtavist Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Associated Press, and elsewhere. He lives in Vermont.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"PublicAffairs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50605547979026,"sku":"9781541788497","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2febc324-c1ff-40b6-bfd8-11381f566472.jpg?v=1750160007","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-libertarian-walks-into-a-bear-the-utopian-plot-to-liberate-an-american-town-and-some-bears-9781541788497","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}