Letters to a Spiritual Seeker
Thoreau's indelible writings on nature, liberty, justice, solitude, and simplicity are infused with spirituality, and, indeed, his entire quest to live an honorable life is a spiritual one, although he didn't overtly characterize it as such. He did, however, directly address matters of the spirit in a remarkable set of 50 letters written to Harrison Gray Otis Blake, an ex-Unitarian minister who initiated their 13-year correspondence in 1848 in his only extant letter. Dean, the Thoreau scholar who rescued Thoreau's magnificent and forgottenWild Fruits(1999), now gathers together for the first time the American sage's still stirring and relevant spiritual musings and expertly sets them within biographical and historical contexts. Here Thoreau explicates his inclusive view of spirituality born of his intense attentiveness to nature and deep study of both Eastern and Western religious traditions. Here Thoreau, who has a knack for turning everyday activities into striking metaphors, analogies, and allegories, muses provocatively on work, contemplation, and responsibility. With quotable lines on every page, this is an important and affecting addition to the Thoreau shelf.Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.