Book Review: And Then I Am Gone

Author: Mathias B. Freese
 
Summary from Goodreads:
And Then I Am Gone: A Walk with Thoreau tells the story of a New York City man who becomes an Alabama man. Despite his radical migration to simpler living and a late-life marriage to a saint of sorts, his persistent pet anxieties and unanswerable questions follow him. Mathias Freese wants his retreat from the societal "it" to be a brave safari for the self rather than cowardly avoidance, so who better to guide him but Henry David Thoreau, the self-aware philosopher who retreated to Walden Pond "to live deliberately" and cease "the hurry and waste of life"? In this memoir, Freese wishes to share how and why he came to Harvest, Alabama (both literally and figuratively), to impart his existential impressions and concerns, and to leave his mark before he is gone.

About the Author

Mathias B. Freese is a writer, teacher, and psychotherapist who has authored six books. His I Truly Lament: Working Through the Holocaust won the Beverly Hills Book Awards and the Reader's Favorite Book Award, and it was a finalist in the Indie Excellence Book Awards, the Paris Book Festival, and the Amsterdam Book Festival. In 2016 Tesserae: A Memoir of Two Summers, his first memoir, received seven awards.


Personal Review:
In full disclosure, I have never read Thoreau. But when the author of this book reached out to me and I read the information about a city guy moving to a more rural place, I thought I would give it a try. This book was an interesting read and I am glad that I picked it up.

In the book, we gain a much broader understanding of the author, who wants to be, who he becomes, and what he thinks about in the world. I think that there is some vulnerability in the book and I appreciate it because it comes across as sincere.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this book.





Disclaimer: I was awarded this book from the author. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.

Happy Reading!