""I remember thinking that he was going to electrocute himself and that I should say something. But then I figured he was the qualified technician and I was new to the island. Everything was new to me, including the fact that electrical wiring was supposed to look like spaghetti; bare un-connected wires protruding from weird places were normal.

I let him throw the switch--""

The search for a simpler, less complicated way of life was the quest of David Fagan. For nearly twenty years he has pursued this ambition, only recently concluding that perhaps simplicity is unobtainable given the...