Memoir of a Wildman by Timber Cleghorn – Book Review

Another overdue book review incoming!! I had such a great time reading Timber’s book.

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Memoir of a Wildman is written by Timber Cleghorn, who survived 83 days on season 11 of ALONE: the Arctic Circle. If you haven’t watched, ALONE is the most legitimate survival show on TV, where 10 contestants are dropped into the wilderness with minimal gear. Whoever survives the longest wins. The contestants on season 11 were absolutely amazing, and if you watched you know that Timber’s life story is particularly unique, and fortunately for fans, his book reveals so much more about the experiences that lead Timber up to being able to survive solo in the Arctic for so long.

Memoir of a Wildman is Timber’s story told through the framework of the ALONE show. He walks you through his experience day by day on the show. Sprinkled throughout those days he tells you stories from his life beforehand, the things that lead him up to be the man that he has become, a man with the skills, fortitude, and spiritual strength to endure such an intense challenge. If for some reason you have not seen Timber’s journey on TV yet, spoiler alert: His life has been absolutely crazy! He was raised on an off-grid homestead, studied linguistics, and does humanitarian aid projects all over the world with his family in war-torn areas where people desperately need help. When you hear snippets from his experiences on the show it feels almost unbelievable, but Timber’s story on the show, expanded upon in his book, really is a story of a wild man who has been through some crazy stuff.

Of course I ordered an autographed copy! Thank you Timber!

What I appreciate about the book is it’s not just a recap of his experience on the show. It’s not just the stories of his crazy experiences. It’s also an exploration of his emotions and spiritual life that gives the reader something to chew on themselves. When we read the stories of others, it’s an opportunity to stand in their shoes that gives you pause for thought in your own life. No, I’m not going to be dining with a war lord in a middle eastern country in my lifetime, but I am deeply grateful for Timber sharing that experience so that I can ponder what that sort of experience would be like, and it gives me information about how that informs his experience and decision making.

Timber has been through some stuff that honestly a lot of people these days would be like, “yo, this dude needs therapy” and while I see what someone might mean by that – the ALONE experience transcends therapy. I don’t want to spoil the book, but Timber’s spiritual journey on ALONE is worth reading about. He is a deeply faithful Christian and speaks about God and to God frequently. What I appreciate about the book is as the days pass in the narrative, the story gets deeper, more vulnerable, and he shares his personal sort of revelation he comes to on why he chooses to leave the show. It’s so fascinating and I want to leave that to the reader to experience for themselves.

There is a section in the center of the book with some fascinating photographs from Timber’s life.

Anyway, I highly recommend this book if you enjoyed watching Timber on season 11. You don’t have to have watched the show to enjoy this book though – it’s a journey in itself. It’s well-written, well-edited, the pacing is great, etc. There are even some photographs in it that give even more context to his stories. I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to read this book, thank you so much to Timber for sharing it with the world.

Here are some links to Timber’s online things: Get the book, Timber’s Website, Instagram, YouTube