Six Walks
In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau
by Ben Shattuck
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Pub Date Apr 19 2022 | Archive Date Mar 31 2022
Tin House | Tin House Books
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Description
A Most Anticipated Book of 2022 at The Rumpus.
“A book of loss and redemption, fear and fragile hope.” —Nathaniel Philbrick
“I think Thoreau would have liked this book, and that’s a high recommendation.” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
On an autumn morning in 1849, Henry David Thoreau stepped out his front door to walk the beaches of Cape Cod. Over a century and a half later, Ben Shattuck does the same. With little more than a loaf of bread, brick of cheese, and a notebook, Shattuck sets out to retrace Thoreau’s path through the Cape’s outer beaches, from the elbow to Provincetown’s fingertip.
This is the first of six journeys taken by Shattuck, each one inspired by a walk once taken by Henry David Thoreau. After the Cape, Shattuck goes up Mount Katahdin and Mount Wachusett, down the coastline of his hometown, and then through the Allagash. Along the way, Shattuck encounters unexpected characters, landscapes, and stories, seeing for himself the restorative effects that walking can have on a dampened spirit. Over years of following Thoreau, Shattuck finds himself uncovering new insights about family, love, friendship, and fatherhood, and understanding more deeply the lessons walking can offer through life’s changing seasons.
Intimate, entertaining, and beautifully crafted, Six Walks is a resounding tribute to the ways walking in nature can inspire us all.
About the Author:
Ben Shattuck, a former Teaching-Writing Fellow and graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, is a recipient of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize and a 2019 Pushcart Prize. He is the director of the Cuttyhunk Island Writers' Residency and curator of the Dedee Shattuck Gallery. His writing can be found in the Harvard Review, The Common, the Paris Review Daily, Lit Hub, and Kinfolk Magazine. He lives with his wife and daughter on the coast of Massachusetts, where he owns and runs a general store built in 1793.
Advance Praise
"Resplendent. . . . Echoing Thoreau’s brilliant reflections with his own, Shattuck distills the healing power of nature into a narrative that’s a pure pleasure to wander through. Fans of Annie Dillard will find this mesmerizing." - Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"Poetic. . . . Wistful and meditative, sparked by lovely prose." - Kirkus Reviews
"I think Thoreau would have liked this book, and that’s a high recommendation." - Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
"Walking as means of healing, walking as a way of seeing what’s there, walking as a method of pulling you out of yourself and rejoining the world—in this beautiful, smart, and moving book, Ben Shattuck shows us where putting one foot in front of the other can take us. Thoreau’s footsteps serve as map, but Shattuck has made a fresh journey right into the heart of things. In painterly prose, he brings us along on his walks and proves the best sort of guide: curious, open to the chance encounter, deeply attuned to rhythms natural and personal and to the strange joys to be found even in periods of pain. Most of all, he reminds us, every step of the way, of what’s on offer every time we walk out the door." - Nina MacLaughlin, author of Summer Solstice: An Essay
"By walking in Thoreau’s footsteps, Ben Shattuck ends up following the long trail left by wandering thinkers and writers like Rousseau, Muir, Walser, Benjamin, and Solnit. Along the way, Six Walks offers a moving meditation on nature and history—and what our precarious place between these two realms may be." - Hernan Diaz, author of In the Distance
"Inspired by Thoreau, but soon onto something that is very much his own, Ben Shattuck takes us on a journey that bores into the history of both himself and his native New England. A book of loss and redemption, fear and fragile hope, Six Walks is rich, evocative, and like the boat gunwale that cuts off the tip of his finger, unexpectedly dangerous—in that best of Thoreauvian ways." - Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Hurricane’s Eye
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781953534040 |
| PRICE | $22.95 (USD) |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Book Trade Professional 23650
A snowstorm day was the perfect idyll in which to curl up with Ben Shattuck's SIX WALKS, a poignant, intensely observed and intelligent retracing of some of Thoreau's most famous road trips. The first half of the work is especially compelling, as Shattuck seizes the opportunity of these journeys in an attempt to heal himself and address his own demons. A highly recommended read--irresistible for anyone who loves the works of Thoreau, thoughtful memoirs, and/or captivating nature writing.
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