Synopsis
The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
$10.99
Published by Samuel French Inc
5 Female
This drama opens with Thoreau in jail for refusing to pay taxes to a government conducting a war of aggression in Mexico, at midpoint shows Emerson visiting him, and ends on the morning of his release
Scenes portray his return from Harvard where he idolized Emerson, his attempt to establish a transcendentalist school, his career as a handyman and tutor in Emerson's household, his romance and his friendship with an illiterate cellmate
The end is a grotesque dream in which the characters take up guises in a mortal assault on Mexico
"Absolutely fascinating.... Imaginatively commanding" ~ Washington Post
"Scene after scene moves you to laughter or close to tears" ~ Newsday