Eric Brende

Now that even the Boundary Waters is full of cell phones and GPS units–there’s probably even a laptop in a dry bag up there somewhere–it seems there’s no escaping technology. MIT student Eric Brende started to question his addiction to this higher power source, and decided the only way to escape technology’s grip was to really get away. He and his wife moved to an off-grid community of Amish-like people he calls the “Minimites,” who use no electric machines and run a barter society exchanging homegrown food and goods. Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology chronicles the eighteen months Brende and his wife lived in the community. Apparently, they missed a few things; he now lives in St. Louis, where he works as a rickshaw driver. Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-625-6564; www.bookstores.umn.edu