Green Daily

In fact, Fine is far from perfect, and his acknowledged hypocrisy is exactly what makes the book worth reading. When he first sets off to live a sustainable life on a sprawling New Mexico farm, he has a hard time giving up the sweet life - which, for him, involves rotisserie chicken and pints of ice cream from the 24-hour Wal-Mart.

Despite his struggles, Fine is a modest man with humble beginnings, although you get the impression that he's not disclosing as much as he could have about his experience with living off the land and fending for himself. Sure enough, after reading his bio, you learn that Fine backpacked through five continents and reported from remote forests and war zones, making his experiences in sustainable farming seem incredibly tame by comparison.

But in and of themselves, the experiences are definitely challenges, ones that Fine must rely in part on his own common sense - and heavily on crafty, experienced neighbors - to learn the ropes of living sustainably.

From the very first page, Fine sets up a curious quandary that implores the reader to dive into the book: his beloved Subaru of twelve years goes careening down a ravine when he accidentally forgets to apply the parking brake. Fine uses the car as a metaphor for eschewing 21st century technology and crude oil and embracing his new, environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

Fine continues to do this - that is, keep the reader engaged - throughout the rest of the book by setting up scenes that seem too good to be true, ones the reader knows are destined for failure. As soon as Fine begins patting himself on the back for a large accomplishment - such as making it through the first two weeks of goat-rearing, or setting up a solar-powered shower, or learning how to fire a rifle, it's inevitable that calamity (and painful lessons learned) are not far behind.

The book is a great one for burgeoning to intermediate-level environmentalists who want to take the next step in greening their house or lifestyle, but don't have any experience. In a humorous but realistic manner, Fine walks the reader through the challenges and eventual rewards of green living, including owning and maintaining a biofuel-powered vehicle, building a solar-powered water system, and raising animals (and finding new and unique ways to use their outputs).

Another nice feature of the book is the way Fine slips in eco statistics and carefully intertwines facts about the environment by relating them to parts of his own story, instead of shoving them down our throats. For instance, in the midst of his biofuel woes, he includes a recipe for Kung Pao Chicken with Cold Sesame Noodles (a nod to the enticing smell of Chinese food escaping out his truck's exhaust pipe, courtesy of used cooking oil-cum-fuel).

Really, the only time Fine gives readers direct suggestions about how to live their lives more sustainably and with less of a carbon footprint is in the book's afterword, and even then he's gentle yet persuasive, instead of preachy or full of himself.

If you're looking for a hard-hitting, statistic-packed tome, look elsewhere. If you crave a funny, insightful memoir with some great tips on green living (and the fact that it's okay to err), look no further than Farewell, My Subaru.