"Perhaps the most remarkable book in the American canon. As dense as scripture, crowded with aphorism, Walden is full enough of ideas for a score of ordinary books." -Bill McKibben In 1845 Henry David Thoreau left his pencil-manufacturing business and began building a cabin on the shore of Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. This lyrical yet practical-minded book is at once the record of the 26 months Thoreau spent in withdrawal from society-an account of the daily details of building, planting, hunting, cooking, and always, observing nature-and a declaration of independence from the oppressive mores and spiritual sterility of the world he left behind. Elegant, funny, profound, and quietly searching, Walden remains the most persuasive American argument for simplicity of life and clarity of conscience.
