Walden's Shore | Robert Thorson

Dust jacket cover design by Annamarie, McMahon Why of Harvard University Press. — Cover design by Annamarie, McMahon Why of Harvard University Press.

This was my first book for Harvard University Press, written for those interested in the creation story of Walden Pond, Thoreau’s expertise in physical science, and the link between these topics and his masterpiece Walden. The paperback edition was released in September 2015.

Blurbs

“Walden’s Shore has no predecessor in the field of Thoreau studies. It is a welcome addition and a needed reassessment of an iconic figure.” Jeffrey S. Cramer

“The work of an extraordinary mind. Thorson seeks to ground what is arguably the great3es piece of non-fiction produced in America, and one of the world’s classics, not in the field of language where it has long been situated but rather in the material universe…He stunningly succeeds in this effort.” Wayne Franklin.

Selected Reviews

Nature — “Geologist Robert Thorson obliges, focusing on Thoreau as a flinty amateur geologist to reinject science into his literary legacy. Thoreau, Thorson persuasively argues, was as grounded in rock as he was in the elemental understanding of the cosmos sought by the Transcendentalist movement.”

American Literary History, Joel Pfister: “Walden’s Shore is a daring, passionate, and impressively learned book… Thorson writes better than many literary scholars.”

Thoreau's desk — Replica of Thoreau’s desk in replica of his house at Walden Pond State Reservation.

Choice, L.T. Spencer: “Through a detailed reading of Thoreau’s Journal and Walden, Thorson shows that Thoreau was a competent scientist with expertise in limnology, geology, hydrology, and ecology. He also had a fundamental understanding of the effects of glaciers on landscapes.”

Kirkus — “Thorson suggests that seasonal change and the contrast in Walden Pond between summer and winter is a metaphor for Thoreau’s own mind, which “toggled [between] poetic and scientific.” An intriguing academic book best read in conjunction with Walden.”

New England Quarterly, Laura Dassow Walls — “Thorson’s overriding point is one that Thoreau himself would have appreciated: beware the fortress mentality of the siloed academy.”

Thoreau Society Bulletin, William Rossi — “Fascinating… Thorson presents the strongest version yet of the argument that, by the time he reached his early thirties, Thoreau was a scientist.”

Images and Chapter Summaries

Link to Chapters For color images from the B&W book, and for chapter summaries.

Ten Takeaways

Link here to Ten Takeaways from the book.

Story of the Book

This section explains the Story of the Book, i.e. how it came to be.

Media and Scholarly Reviews

This link to Media and Scholarly Reviews contains additional reviews and the excerpts of those abstracted above.

Launch

Events and appearances associated with the roll-out of the book from the launch on Dec 5 2013-to June 27, 2015.