The Thoreau You Don't Know

February 2, 2009
Sullivan (Rats
) weaves biography and American history in this playful attempt to recast Thoreau as more a complex (and convivial) creature than a dour and ascetic environmentalist and “anarchical loner.” The book may stir controversy among those who have appropriated Thoreau for a particular cause—a welcome prospect for the author, who writes, “I suppose I have an ax to grind. The Thoreau you know bothers me too, in light of the one I think I've seen.” According to Sullivan, the man has been lost to the myth, and the myth has removed him from the context of 19th-century Concord, Mass. Was he an eccentric genius? Probably. Was he an isolationist hermit with a lazy streak? No. In fact, Walden was just a stroll from town, and Thoreau thrived on visits from friends. Sullivan gleefully complicates our understanding of Thoreau and the values he championed—civil disobedience and environmentalism. Although the book may not be as revolutionary a study as Sullivan claims, he proves a fine companion on yet another pilgrimage to Walden.