Self-Reliance

Author Essay

"Emerson is someone I always felt I ought to read but each time I sat down to do so, I got overwhelmed after just a few pages and ended up guiltily putting down the book. Then one day Richard Whelan came to me. He had taken Emerson’s spiritual essays and pruned them back to their essentials (what’s here is about 50% of each essay), making the teaching of each one easily accessible. What a boon! And he had written an introduction setting this practical wisdom in the context of Emerson’s life and studies, showing where he had found some of his ideas and how he had developed them. I see this book as a beginner’s guide to Emerson. Anyone who falls in love with the clarity of his thought here can go on to read all of Emersons work ."
–Toinette Lippe, editorial director of Bell Tower