Those of us who have laid loved ones to earthly rest have great respect for Three Roads Back by Robert D. Richardson. The author uses the death of family members as the impetus for the book’s subtitle, How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives.
The distinctive nature of Richardson’s thoughtful deliberation, what he calls “documentary biography,” begins under a shroud, the death of kin. Each famed American thinker has their views of life fashioned by its passing. Richardson shows that the inception of American resolve, what he calls “resilience,” is born in the cemetery. The author is keenly aware of his own impending demise during the writing of his book, noted in the foreword by Megan Marshall, and is sympathetic to his subjects’ perspectives. Using long literary cuts from personal letters and famous treatises, Emerson, Thoreau, and William James are allowed their own voice to display the inception of their seminal ideas.
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