“This is a beautiful book, full of ideas that could help restore America’s genius for freedom and promise.”

~ Thomas Moore, New York Times bestselling author of Care of the Soul

“Those looking for commonsense guidance
to a more self-directed life will find it here.”

~ Publishers Weekly

“This beautifully written book on Emerson offers great
principles and notions for living through these difficult times.
It’s a book of great vitality, vision and liberation.”

~ V (formerly Eve Ensler) author of Reckoning

“Mark Matousek, a writing coach and spiritual guide from Springs, N.Y., reminds us that inside the human mind resides not a stable self but a “shifting composite,” a messy bundle of “impressions, memories, expectations, projections, opinions, and myths.” Mr. Matousek’s book offers 12 lessons (and an appendix of corresponding exercises) to help us take charge of our complex inner lives. Although the topics range widely, from originality to intimacy to enlightenment, the lessons have the same underlying purpose—to persuade us that self-awareness is the pathway to self-reliance and individual healing.”

~ The Wall Street Journal

“Mark Matousek is more than an outstanding biographer of the legendary Emerson. He joins the lineage of Emerson by adding his own hard-earned wisdom and care. In translating Emerson’s insights to our modern world, Mark has done a great service for the soul of America. This is a great book. It will open your heart, expand your mind, and help you live more truly, more fully, and more lovingly.”

~ Mark Nepo, author of The Half-Life of Angels and Falling Down and Getting Up

“In this deeply felt account of a personal relationship with the writings of Ralph Waldo
Emerson, Mark Matousek seems to discover the guidance that was absent from his
childhood. Eager to share not only the wisdom he received, but also the comfort, he
explains how Emerson’s precepts apply to any troubled life and presents a usefully
sorted guide to what principles to apply where. It is a filial love story, a
profound appreciation of a great mind and spirit.”

~ Andrew Solomon, author of Far & Away: How Travel Can Change the World