The Outermost House
a Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)
Published on 3. January 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
138 pages
978-1-962572-29-3 (ISBN)
Description
Long hailed as a classic of American nature writing, Henry Beston's eloquent chronicle of a solitary year spent on a Cape Cod beach was written in longhand at the kitchen table, in a little room overlooking the North Atlantic and the dunes. In 1926 Beston retreated to the outer beach at Eastham in search of peace and solitude. What began as a two-week stay lengthened into a year spent keenly observing the rhythm of the seasons and life on the Great Beach. The Outermost House played a part in establishing the Cape Code National Seashore and has profoundly influenced subsequent nature writers, including Rachel Carson, Joseph Wood Krutch, Annie Dillard, and Barry Lopez. This Warbler Classics edition includes an essay by Allan Burns on the art and legacy of The Outermost House as well as a detailed biographical timeline.
More details
Language
English
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight
212 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-962572-29-3 (9781962572293)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Henry Beston (1888 - 1968) was an American writer and naturalist, best known as the author of The Outermost House, written in 1928. In 1912, Beston took up teaching at the University of Lyon. In 1914 he returned to Harvard as an English department assistant. Beston joined the French army in 1915 and served as an ambulance driver. His service in le Bois le Pretre and at the Battle of Verdun was described in his first book, A Volunteer Poilu. In 1918, Beston became a press representative for the U.S. Navy. Highlights from this period include being the only American correspondent to travel with the British Grand Fleet and to be aboard an American destroyer during combat engagement and sinking. His second book of journalistic work, Full Speed Ahead, described these experiences. Following the end of World War I, Henry Beston Sheahan began writing fairy tales under the name "Henry Beston". In 1919, The Firelight Fairy Book was published, followed by The Starlight Wonder Book in 1923. During this time, he worked as an editor of The Living Age, an offshoot of The Atlantic Monthly. While he also met his future wife Elizabeth Coatsworth, a fellow author of children's literature.