Emerson among the eccentrics

by Carlos Baker

When Carlos Baker died in 1987, he had completed all but the finishing touches on what will be considered his masterpiece. An esteemed literary critic and mentor to several generations of younger scholars, Carlos Baker had a lifelong interest in the writers of the American Renaissance, particularly in Ralph Waldo Emerson, its intellectual centerpiece, but also in Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Amos Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller, all of whom made Concord a mecca for American intellectuals, with Emerson undoubtedly its foremost citizen. Lucky for us that in his last years Carlos Baker poured his resources, wisdom, and affections into this remarkable book. Emerson Among the Eccentrics is that rarest of accomplishments: a magnificent biography that functions equally as a group portrait and a highly detailed reconstruction of an entire area. Carlos Baker was indefatigable in going through all of the principal characters, journals, and correspondence to reconstruct, minutely