“Written from diverse perspectives, these essays offer close readings of selected texts and draw on letters and journals to offer a comprehensive view of how Emerson’s and Thoreau’s friendships took root and bolstered their individual political, social, and ethical projects.”

“Emerson, Thoreau, and the Transcendentalists had a lot more to say about friendship than is generally thought, and this is a good point of departure for these new readings.”
 — Robert F. Sayre, University of Iowa

“Addresses an issue—friendship—that is of crucial importance to the ethical and social visions of Emerson and Thoreau.”
 — James M. Albrecht, Pacific Lutheran University

“Emerson & Thoreau rises above the rest in that it sheds light not only on ideas but on the human interests that imbue them sometimes with beauty, occasionally with virtue, and too often with tragedy.V.6.2 Summer 2011”
 — The Pluralist

“[T]his splendid volume ... is a substantial contribution to our understanding of the friendship between Emerson and Thoreau, and of nineteenth century literary culture more generally.Vol. 22.1 Spring 2011”
 — Emerson Society Papers

“This thought-provoking collection offers valuable insights not only about Emerson and Thoreau but also about the ways in which their views of friendship resonate today. December 2010, Vol. 83, no. 4”
 — The New England Quarterly

“In their new book, John T. Lysaker and William Rossi have assembled a set of excellent scholarly essays that situate Emerson and Thoreau in the tradition of Western thinking about friendship stretching from Plato to Derrida.”
 — Times Literary Supplement

“Lysaker and Rossi believe that by studying Thoreau and Emerson's unique friendship and also their writing on the subject of friendship one can learn much about the mysterious and sometimes contradictory elements that tie all humans in friendship. . . . Close examination of their written essays, letters, and journals does in fact enrich understanding of what the two men experienced. . . . Recommended.”
 — Choice

“Emerson & Thoreau: Figures of Friendship... offers compelling biographical background on [Emerson and Thoreau’s] famous friendship, as well as insightful scholarship on their main writings about friendship: Emerson’s essay ‘Friendship,’ and the ‘Wednesday’ section of Thoreau’s A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849).... The book’s aspiration is to be that rare hybrid: an academic work urgent enough to change a reader’s life.... In both Emerson and Thoreau’s thinking, friendship is indispensable in bringing about our better selves: our flourishing cannot occur without the challenges and opportunities for growth our friends provide us.#80 2010”
 — Scott Parker, Philosophy Now