The Maine Woods

by Thoreau, Henry David

• ISBN13: 9780691118772
• ISBN10: 0691118779
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-05-24
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Henry D. Thoreau traveled to the backwoods of Maine in 1846, 1853, and 1857. Originally published in 1864, and published now with a new introduction by Paul Theroux, this volume is a powerful telling of those journeys through a rugged and largely unspoiled land. It presents Thoreau's fullest account of the wilderness. The Maine Woodsis classic Thoreau: a personal story of exterior and interior discoveries in a natural setting--all conveyed in taut, masterly prose. Thoreau's evocative renderings of the life of the primitive forest--its mountains, waterways, fauna, flora, and inhabitants--are timeless and valuable on their own. But his impassioned protest against the despoilment of nature in the name of commerce and sport, which even by the 1850s threatened to deprive Americans of the "tonic of wildness," makesThe Maine Woodsan especially vital book for our own time.

Author Biography

Paul Theroux is a novelist and travel writer. His most recent book is The Stranger at the Palazzo d'Oro and Other Stories. Among his other books are the novels Chicago Loop and Mosquito Coast. He lives on Cape Cod and in Hawaii.

Table of Contents

Map of the Maine Woods	viii
Introduction by Paul Theroux	ix
Ktaadn	3	(81)
Chesuncook	84	(73)
The Allegash and East Branch	157	(141)
Appendix	298	(29)
I. Trees
II. Flowers and Shrubs
III. List of Plants
IV. List of Birds
V. Quadrupeds
VI. Outfit for an Excursion
VII. A List of Indian Words
Index by Paul O. Williams	327