FIVE STARS FOR THE GIRL IN WYOMING!

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WALDEN; or, Life In The Woods
by Henry David Thoreau
published: 1854
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I have no intention of reviewing the writings of Thoreau. The way I figure it is this: if you don't "get it" (and the world around us clearly testifies that few do), I'm not about to explain it. Besides, several other reviewers have already done a very admirable job of excavating and cataloging the rich treasures that constitute the thoughts of Concord's timeless, self-professed "mystic, Transcendentalist, and natural philosopher".

I included this book in one of my Listmania Lists a while back, and was surprised to suddenly notice its low average grade today. I came to read the reviews and find out what's gone wrong here, and in doing so, I happened upon the review by the young lady from Rock Springs, Wyoming. Back in the year 2000, she gave 'WALDEN AND OTHER WRITINGS' one Star; titled her review, 'Dumb!'; stated that she "hated this book entirely"; and called for the start of an "anti-Thoreau campaign for students".

But it was her opening sentence that literally caused me to burst out laughing. Unquestionably, and by a good margin, this is the funniest thing that I've ever encountered on the Amazon website. Actually, it's almost too perfect to be true. And yet... there it is! It provided me with the best laugh I have had in some time.

If you don't appreciate the writings of Henry David Thoreau, then surely you will not appreciate the irony of this girl's statement, but for those of us whose lives have been enriched by the New England SAUNTERER and NONCONFORMIST, this is just too "delicious!"

Our Wyoming friend began her diatribe on Thoreau with this classic sentence:

"I  HAVE  TO  MAKE  THIS  SHORT  SINCE  I  WILL  BE  GOING  OUT  WITH  MY  BOYFRIEND  FOR  A  4:00  DATE  AT  McDONALD'S."
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"I went to the fast food establishment because I wished to eat inexpensively, to acquire only the essential promotional toys of a Happy Meal, and see if I could not keep down what they had to serve, and not when I came to die, discover that I had not removed the plastic wrap. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of Chicken McNuggets. To forgo the hot dog in favor of a Quarter Pound of greasy, round-molded meat and to put to rout all that was not delivered in under sixty seconds."
~ Henry David Thoreau
'WALDEN' (21st Century edition); chapter II
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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