El. knyga: Mindprints: Thoreau's Material Worlds

I have travelled a good deal in Concord, Thoreau wrote in Walden, famously mocking the notion that travel takes place beyond the borders of ones hometown. Devotees of the transcendentalist philosopher will be grateful that, nearly two centuries later, Gaskell took up residence in the adjacent town of Lexington and fixed his uncommon powers of perception on his erstwhile neighbors life and writing, traveling imaginatively with Thoreau to yield this extraordinary book. Gaskell unsettles and expands our understanding of Thoreau by homing in on the sensory particulars of his surroundings, cherished revelations of worlds past, present, and still to come. -- Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'Margaret Fuller: A New American Life' By situating Thoreaus wide-ranging writings in their cultural, historical, and biographical contexts, Gaskell brilliantly illuminates the critical role that perceptual acuity and aesthetic sensibility played in his management of daily life, ethical commitments, and philosophical thinking. Gaskells meticulously crafted account makes Thoreau come alive as someone who practiced and lived his philosophy. The book is timely and pertinent today as we face global challenges posed by environmental crises and consumerism. -- Yuriko Saito, Rhode Island School of Design Louisa May Alcotts observation that Thoreau made one small spot a continent could apply as well to this book. Gaskells study moves outward from the physical spot on earth that Thoreau inhabited to the virtual continents he embraced through mindprints, common things and experiences that projected human presence across the ages. In the process of unpacking Thoreaus contributions, Gaskell also pushes the study of aesthetics from a narrow focus on the arts to an embrace of sensory engagement of all sorts. This is a magical book on an enduring topic. -- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University Ive often wondered what a properly transcendental history of material culture might look like, and thanks to Gaskells Mindprints, I now know. Through carefully chosen examples of Thoreaus distinctively subjective empiricism, Gaskell gives the reader profound means to consider Thoreaus perpetual, heartfelt question: why do just these things make a world? -- David Wood, curator of the Concord Museum