A Review

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

I don’t usually read non-fiction, but an article about this book sparked my interest and I decided to purchase it. I am not normally one to pick up a political book, but libertarianism piqued my interest, as I had no idea how it would work in the real world. To some degree, I still don’t.

“A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear” is about a small New Hampshire town that gets taken over by Libertarians, but that’s not the beginning of the story. Grafton, New Hampshire is home to some pretty wild things and people. The author does a very good job of telling the history of the area. He uses humor and history to show why this particular town was not a good place for libertarianism, without bashing the governmental party. Though it was obvious the writer wasn’t a fan of libertarianism, he still handled the subject matter well.

I don’t know if the story would have turned out different if the bears weren’t so used to the Doughnut Lady, but for Grafton and its Libertarians, it probably could not have been a different end.

I highly recommend this history packed, humorous novel.