Henry David Thoreau, the American writer—“the inspector of rain and snow storms”—at twenty-eight withdrew from society and, having built a house in the woods on the shore of Walden Pond, lived there for two years. That’s how one of the most surprising books in the entire history of literature came to be: “Walden, or Life in the Woods.” Thoreau’s account of two years spent alone with nature became a classic of American literature. By his life by the pond, Thoreau sought to show his contemporaries—who worshiped material prosperity—that it is possible to live well and happily outside society, satisfying all natural needs through one’s own work. He set freedom from material worries against the culture of consumption: seclusion, self-sufficiency, contemplation, and closeness to nature.