Literary Hub » Walden

The Cords That Bind: On the Elusiveness of Solitude in Motherhood

The Cords That Bind: On the Elusiveness of Solitude in Motherhood

Nicole Graev Lipson Reflects on Thoreau, the Self, and the Frenzy of Parenting

By Nicole Graev Lipson | March 5, 2025

It’s Not My Job to Understand Agents or the Marketplace. My Job is to Write.

It’s Not My Job to Understand Agents or the Marketplace. My Job is to Write.

Kevin Maloney on Henry David Thoreau, Kurt Vonnegut, and Rewriting His Life Story Across Multiple Books

By Kevin Maloney | January 8, 2025

John Kaag on the Bloods, the Little-Known Dynasty that Shaped American Life and Philosophy

John Kaag on the Bloods, the Little-Known Dynasty that Shaped American Life and Philosophy

The Author of “American Bloods” in Conversation with James Hibbard

By James Hibbard | June 7, 2024

Researchers are mapping the effects of climate change on Walden Pond—with help from Thoreau.

Researchers are mapping the effects of climate change on Walden Pond—with help from Thoreau.

By Walker Caplan | March 18, 2022

Reconsidering Thoreau in a Burning World

Reconsidering Thoreau in a Burning World

Megan Marshall on Living Through Loss in the California Wildfires

By Megan Marshall | October 29, 2021

Misunderstanding Thoreau: Reading Neurodiversity in Literature and in Life

Misunderstanding Thoreau: Reading Neurodiversity in Literature and in Life

Steve Edwards on Kathryn Schulz, Donald Hall, and the Things We Miss

By Steve Edwards | August 23, 2021

Best Reviewed
Books of the Week

Take a virtual tour of Walden Pond.

By Walker Caplan | July 12, 2021

Do we really need another book about Henry David Thoreau?

By Jonny Diamond | August 25, 2020

Dead Men of Leisure on Their Love of Fishing

By Literary Hub | September 13, 2019

Failed Utopias: Can You Buy an Immaculate World With Dirty Money?

Failed Utopias: Can You Buy an Immaculate World With Dirty Money?

Caite Dolan-Leach on the Oneida Experiment

By Caite Dolan-Leach | August 6, 2019

Bill McKibben: Thoreau Suggests You Put Down Your Smartphone

Bill McKibben: Thoreau Suggests You Put Down Your Smartphone

On the Foresight and Ongoing Relevance of a Great American Thinker

By Bill McKibben | July 12, 2017

Thoreau on Trump, Twitter, and Fake News

Thoreau on Trump, Twitter, and Fake News

The Ongoing and Depressing Relevance of a 200-Year-Old Thinker

By Emily Temple | July 12, 2017

How Thoreau (And My Father) Taught Me That Literature is a Public Good

How Thoreau (And My Father) Taught Me That Literature is a Public Good

"This Function is as Vital as Air, as Vital as Water"

By Kristen Case | July 12, 2017

A Man Who Spent 27 Years Alone in the Woods on the Best of Hermit Literature

A Man Who Spent 27 Years Alone in the Woods on the Best of Hermit Literature

What Christopher Knight Read From His Nylon Tent in Central Maine

By Michael Finkel | May 2, 2017

Women Can Lead Lives of Quiet Desperation Too

Women Can Lead Lives of Quiet Desperation Too

Big Little Lies">Madeline, Celeste and Jane as Byronic heroes In Big Little Lies

By Emily Temple | March 6, 2017

Mark Greif on What Thoreau Can Teach Us About Resisting Trump

Mark Greif on What Thoreau Can Teach Us About Resisting Trump

In Conversation with Open Source's Christopher Lydon

By Literary Hub | February 1, 2017