An Island to Oneself: The Story of Six Years on a Desert Island

A great hermit book (yes, that’s a sub-genre). Tom’s grown up in Polynesia and has heard tales of an epic atoll off of the commonly plied ship routes. He saves up to buy enough sugar, flour, dried meat, and what have you to go to the island for years at a time alone in the 60s. On the island he takes residence in an old WW2 shack of an outpost. Fascinating stories of the challenges he had to succumb to sustain himself through storms, medical trouble, and island pigs eating his garden vegetables. A true survivalist. Occasionally he gets the rare visitor, but will typically go many many months without speaking to a single soul.