Walking Towards Walden is an exploration of the sense of place, what it means, how it developed, and why it matters. Based on an eighteenth-century literary device in which a group of friends undertake a walking tour and discuss a certain subject, this wide-ranging story emerges from the author's fifteen-mile bushwhack through woods, backyards, and marshes—from a hilltop in Westford, Massachusetts, to the town of Concord, Massachusetts—trespassing all along the way. A mock epic, complete with encounters with armed mercenaries and vicious dogs, the book covers all the aspects of place—art, literature, myth, and even music.
Industry Reviews
"This is surely John Mitchell's best book, and he is one of the most intriguing, original nature writers alive. It's a jaunt through history and ecology, a spirited personal memoir, a saunter in Thoreau's richly diverse sense of the word. Top-notch."--Edward Hoagland, author of Compass Points: How I Lived