My summary: Best known for his YouTube channel by the same name, Ghost Town Living is Brent Underwood’s story of his adventures thus far in restoring Cerro Gordo, once the largest silver mine in California and whose riches are credited with building Los Angeles. Brent used every penny of his life savings to purchase the town of Cerro Gordo in 2018 and moved up to it full time at the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Despite having no running water and no residents, Brent set out determined to bring this ghost town back to life. The book covers the history and historical figures significant to the town and surrounding areas, intertwined with Brent’s experiences in Cerro Gordo, the people he’s met along the way, the recent events that have continued to shape the town, and some of Brent’s philosophical musings. If you’re a fan of Brent’s YouTube channel, if you’ve ever made the trek up the Yellow Grade Road, or if you just enjoy ghost towns or adventures, then this is a must read for the valuable insight into the town, its history, and Brent’s mark on it so far.

My thoughts: My husband got me hooked on watching Brent’s YouTube channel and I have been to Cerro Gordo to visit once so far. I love the Sierra Nevada and surrounding areas, and visiting a once abandoned ghost town that’s being resurrected is just up my alley of hobbies. The Ghost Town Living YouTube channel is one of the (very) few that I watch and I’ve enjoyed watching Brent’s four year journey so far. My husband pre-ordered the book for me (I may not have bought it on my own), and I’m really glad he did because I really liked the deeper dive into the history of the town and Brent’s take on some of the major milestones in the town under his watch. I have heard a lot of these stories and anecdotes through the vlogs and online posts but it was still enjoyable to have those expanded on in his words. The whole water/Owens Lake/Mulholland/LADWP situation has always held my interest with the effects in this region so I was particularly interested in the Water section of the book. Although I don’t necessarily agree with some of Brent’s larger worldviews that he mentions in the book, I can appreciate that his experiences so far have led him to those opinions and am still intrigued in his overall story at Cerro Gordo. It’s been great to watch Brent’s progress so far in the town and I am sure that his passion, combined with the following he’s generated through his YouTube channel and now his book, will transform this town into everything he envisions it can be one day.