Henry David Thoreau
A Life

Most readers know Thoreau through Walden, though I wonder if it is still taught in American schools much anymore. It’s a pity if it’s not, particularly given its relevance to the ongoing destruction of the natural world and the climate crisis that will probably determine our future if we don’t do ou......more

Those who admire Thoreau and his intimacy with nature around Concord and New England may have a sense of a legendary man equal to it, one who walked around in it confident it held few mysteries for him. The strength of Walls's portrait of Thoreau is that she writes him as a man who knew some things......more

I am usually not too keen about reading biographies, especially when, in the midst of a growing admiration, must witness the death of their subjects in the last chapter. So it was with Laura Dassow Walls's Henry David Thoreau: A Life. Thoreau has always been one of my heroes. He is probably my favor......more

This is one of the best biographies I’ve ever read. Right at the moment I can’t think of a better one. And it comes at an ideal moment for me. The official occasion is the bicentennial of Thoreau’s birth, in 1817. There is a whole wave of writing coming out about him now. Thoreau’s life speaks to me......more

I finally finished reading the superb Thoreau biography by Laura Walls. One of those books I savored because I did not want it to end. Every paragraph was excellent. It was like opening up the drapes and windows on a man I’d long considered a hero but knew nothing, really, about. What an incredible......more