Co-written by Margrave and his publisher, Conant, the early chapters of this book deliberately dramatize Margrave's life and reveal his eccentricities. He was justifiably proud of winning the Iron Man Award for soccer coaching, but Margrave's big achievements were challenging the government regarding the need for IRS taxes and Social Security, researching the history of the gold standard from 1789 onward, and employing text from The Revenue Act of 1913 as the basis for only paying tax on his rate as the company plumber, not on a salary. This tax he paid in gold.
There are many highlights in this book. Chapter 6 might be titled Financial Wisdom according to Margrave. Chapter 7 includes his last days, dying of lung cancer in 2015 while working to the end to inform people about the gold standard. Part Three contains documents and evidence. In the Afterword, Diane, Davids' wife of nearly forty years, summed up the experience. He would say, "If you want to be with me, this is the way it is." In addition, daughter, Kelly, mentions her father's favorite saying: "Everyone has a little bit of good, a little bit of bad, a little bit of crook, and a little bit of an honest person in them." Love and pride show through in both of these remembrances.
Coauthor Conant provided motivation and obtained quotes from those who knew Margrave. Multiple viewpoints make the memoir a little disjointed and may explain why it took two years after Margrave's death to publish. Clearly more than just a plumber, David L. Margrave left a legacy of being the one man to legally outwit the IRS.