During his junior year of college, a tragic accident during a game of pick-up basketball disrupted Howard Axelrod’s course in life. As a way to make sense of himself and of life, Howard did what I’ve only fantasized of doing: he went to live in the woods, in utter solitude, for a very long time. In fact, Howard spent two years living in a small cabin in Northern Vermont, and in this interview, we discuss his experience of that time, how it affected his sense of self and perception of time.
His memoir of this experience, The Point of Vanishing, is an outstanding read that imparts a truly visceral sense of his experience. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Howard as much as I did!
- The Point of Vanishing, Howard’s memoir about life as a hermit
- How an eye injury changed Howard’s reality
- Into the woods
- How isolation changed Howard’s sense of self
- Howard’s expansive awareness of time
- Out of the woods
Originally published on April 20, 2017
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