Searching for Thoreau: On the Trails and Shores of Wild New England

By Tom Slayton

Book Overview

Searching for Thoreau vividly transports the reader to the places in New England that were most important to the great American writer and naturalist Henry David Thoreau in ten vigorous essays that range from Walden Pond to the shores of Cape Cod and the heights of Mount Katahdin in northern Maine. Retracing Thoreau's steps from 150 years ago in a series of hikes and excursions, author Tom Slayton shares Thoreau's colorful descriptions of his experiences in nature along with his own first-hand observations of the same places today, and reflects on the changes wrought by time and man.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1884592449
• ISBN13: 9781884592447
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: Images from the Past
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A 'must read' for the legions of Thoreau fans

19th Century writer and naturalist Henry David Thoreau has had an impact on the public imagination that endure down to this very day. The former editor of 'Vermont Life Magazine' and a student of Thoreau's writings from three decades, Tom Slayton has written and compiled seminal essays arising from his travels to the places associated with Thoreau. These deftly written, articulate, engaging commentaries are published collectively as "Searching For Thoreau: On The Trails And Shore Of Wild New England". The individual essays include Walden Pond and 'Walden'; A Walk in the Concord Woods; A Day on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers; The Mountains of Hme; Katahdin Means Greatest Mountain; Northern Main: Big woods, Big Question; Walking Cape Cod; Mount Washington, Two Times; and Conclusion: What's Left. Enhanced with a 'Chronology of Thoreau's Travels'; 'When You God: Tips on Tracking Thoreau'; a Bibliography, and a Sources list, "Searching For Thoreau" will aptly serve as an instructive guide for readers who would like to make their own way to those outdoor New England wilds that so inspired Thoreau in his time. A 'must read' for the legions of Thoreau fans, "Search For Theoreau" is enthusiastically recommended for personal and community library collections, and as an addition to academic Thoreau Studies supplemental reading lists.

Searching for Thoreau

This book was well written and offers some beautiful pictures of Walden Pond and the mountains, Lakes and streams of New England. The author's discriptions of the wilderness areas in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont made me want to go back and enjoy the places that Thoreau wrote about. It was refreshing to read that most of the places were still identifiable and produced a longing to go back and see for myself. Allan Odell, Redding, Ca.

Excellent

Great stuff. The author is a good writer armed with an intimate knowledge not only of Thoreau's prose and philosophy, but also Thoreau's terrain. People who are hikers and climbers familiar with New England landscapes will especially enjoy this volume.