First published 2019
Solid Seasons traces the decades-long friendship between literary titans Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Though the two men shared a deep intellectual kinship, their bond was tested by Thoreau's disappointment in Emerson and Emerson's own disillusionment. Yet even as their relationship weathered crises, the "solid seasons" of their friendship endured, as evidenced by Emerson's touching later recollection of Thoreau as his "best friend." Cramer's thoughtful, movingly presented dual-biography illuminates the full nature of this iconic American dialogue.
Genres: biography, friendship, 20th-century, american, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: friendship, intellectual-kinship
Period: 19th-Century
368 pages · Hardcover · Counterpoint