A thoughtfully researched, movingly presented dual-biography of two iconic American writers, each trying to find the ideal friend with whom they could share their journey through our imperfect world.
Any biography that concentrates on either Thoreau or Emerson tends to diminish the other figure, but in Solid Seasons both men remain central and equal. Throughout their writing, friendship was always a primary theme for them both.
Referencing the letters and journals of both men, as well as words written about them by their contemporaries, Jeffrey S. Cramer beautifully illustrates the full nature of their twenty-five-year dialog. Biographers like to point at the crisis in their friendship, focusing particularly on Thoreau''s disappointment in Emerson—rarely on Emerson''s own disappointment in Thoreau, and leaving it there, a friendship ruptured. But the solid seasons remained, as is evident when, in 1878, Anne Burrows Gilchrist, the English writer and friend of Whitman, visited Emerson. She wrote that his memory was failing "as to recent names and topics but as is usual in such cases all the mental impressions that were made when he was in full vigour remain clear and strong." As they chatted Emerson called to his wife, Lydian, in the next room, "What was the name of my best friend?"
"Henry Thoreau," she answered.
"Oh, yes," Emerson repeated. "Henry Thoreau."
