The Man Who Quit Money

 The Man Who Quit Money by Mark Sundeen tells the incredible true story of Daniel Suelo, who decided to live life without money. Suelo was raised as a strong fundamentalist and was the youngest of many kids. Growing up, Suelo always questioned religion, and the way we live. He was always looking deeper into things than most people would. He decided to study many different religions and break away from his fundamentalist roots. Suelo was having a hard time fitting in with the traditional American way. He didn't believe that charging money for certain things was ethical, he believed we should give without expecting payment. Suelo also faced many difficult challenges, his parents didn't accept is homosexuality, and Suelo even attempted suicide at one point. Suelo took many exciting trips in order to get a better understanding of his purpose in life including, South America, India, and Alaska. Along the way he met many interesting people and learned lots of new things and started to get a new perspective on life. Eventually he came to the conclusion that the only way he could live his life the way he believed was right, he would have to give up the use of money, and resort to living in caves and dumpster diving in the small town of Moab.

    I honestly loved this book. I feel like it gave me a new way to look at things a little bit. Although I would never go to the extreme of quitting money and living in caves, I totally agree with some of the reasons why Suelo did. The story is super fun to read and I never wanted to put the book down. Suelo's life is truly exciting and the author even compares it to the hero's journey several times, and he's right. Suelo's life almost follows the hero's journey perfectly. There are so many parts to this story that amazed me. However there seems to be a lot of unnecessary information. There are a few chapters that I feel like could be shortened, or completely taken out even because the information wasn't important to the story, and to be honest, was just plain boring. But looking at the big picture, I think the book is excellent.

      One of the best parts of the book, is the fact that the author and Suelo really question the reader on whether or not the way we live is okay. Why do we charge money and fees for every little thing? Why can't people give freely without expecting something in return? What can we do to not waste as much food and resources? Why do other countries live in poverty but still give more than we do? These are just some of the questions I found myself asking as I read. When I was reading the book, I felt that I should just give up on money too because I agreed with Suelo's message, however that is unrealistic for most people to do. So instead what this book taught me was to simply spend less, and give more.

      I would recommend this book to anyone who has an open mind. If you are not willing to accept certain beliefs, than this book is not for you. It often talks about different religions and ways of life, and if you are not able to accept other people's beliefs then you probably shouldn't read this book.

      I think this book is one of my all-time favorites because of all of the new information I learned and the amazing story of Daniel Suelo itself. I give it an A without a doubt.


Just a heads up: If you are uncomfortable with swearing, this book is not for you, because it swears quite a bit.