Expect Great Things: The Life and Search of Henry David Thoreau

(Paperback)

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This sweeping, epic biography of Henry David Thoreau sees Thoreau's world as the mystic himself saw it: filled with wonder and mystery; Native American myths and lore; wood sylphs, nature spirits, and fairies; battles between good and evil; and heroic struggles to live as a natural being in an increasingly synthetic world. Above all, EXPECT GREAT THINGS critically and authoritatively captures Thoreau's simultaneously wild and intellectually keen sense of the mystical, mythical, and supernatural. Other historians have skipped past or undervalued these aspects of Thoreau's life. In this groundbreaking work, historian and naturalist Kevin Dann restores Thoreau's esoteric visions and explorations to their rightful place as keystones of the man himself. This critically acclaimed biography of Thoreau finally fills a gap in our understanding of one modern history's most important spiritual visionaries by capturing the full arc of Thoreau's life as a mystic, spiritual seeker, and explorer in transcendental realms.

Reviews

"Far from the well-worn paths of academic scholarship, Dann acquaints his reader with a protagonist who is an American mystic, a new-age prophet, a cosmic explorer Dann takes the road less traveled, leading a reader into out-of-the-way places, through hidden passages in Thoreaus personal life Expect Great Things is eccentric, strange, even far-fetched, but nonetheless admirable a bit like Henry David Thoreau. --John Kaag, New York Times Book Review

"[I]n plumbing Thoreaus own singular and profoundly personal quest for the infinite, [Dann] delivers keen insights. A refreshing new perspective on an American icon." -Booklist, starred review

A graceful, attentive inquiry into the mind of Henry David Thoreau Dann shows an ease with the metaphysical (which is typically considered at odds with the discipline of the historian), making a warm sympathetic argument for Thoreau as a mystic and visionary and redefining his reputation. Publishers Weekly

"A reappraisal of the writer's life, focusing on Thoreau's connection to, and celebration of, the invisible and ineffable ... Thoreau emerges from this admiring portrait as a man richly connected to the cosmos." -Kirkus Reviews

If you think you know all about Thoreau think again. Expect Great Things reintroduces an American icon in a thoroughly fresh and vital way, bringing to crackling life a time and place full of drama, achievement, adventure, and excitement. Thoreau reached spiritual maturity in an age like our own, full of uncertainty and potential. Kevin Danns highly readable prose places Thoreau amid an assortment of eccentric characters and shows how his philosophy of solitude and nature may be more relevant today than ever before. Gary Lachman, author of The Secret Teachers of the Western World

A vivid and beautifully written portrait not only of Thoreau but of his milieu. And it does full justice to Thoreaus nature mysticism. Richard Smoley, author of How God Became God: What Scholars Are Really Saying about God and the Bible

Kevin Danns biography of Henry David Thoreau offers a refreshing perspective on the most down-to-earth of the Transcendentalists. Dann shows how Thoreaus free-ranging musings encompassed many of the otherworldly interests of his contemporaries, such as a fascination with faeries, mysterious appearances of gossamer, and other curiosities. Dann makes a strong case that while Thoreaus writings were grounded in tough-minded observations of nature, his own worldview and sympathetic science were far from disenchanted. Fred Nadis, author of The Man from Mars: Ray Palmers Amazing Pulp Adventure and Wonder Shows: Performing Science, Magic, and Religion in America

Author Bio

Historian, naturalist, and troubadour Kevin Dann is the author of ten books, including Across the Great Border Fault- The Naturalist Myth in America and Lewis Creek Lost and Found. He received his PhD from Rutgers University in American History and Environmental History. Dann has taught at Rutgers, University of Vermont, and the State University of New York. In the spring of 2009, he walked from Montreal to Manhattan to commemorate the 400th anniversaries of Hudson's and Champlain's voyages, and, having crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, decided to make his home there.