Thoreau Bound: A Utopian Romance in the Isles of Greece

by Michael Pastore

Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World (1932) depicts a futuristic society where politicians utilize technology to deceive their citizens so that they “love their servitude”. In a Foreword to a reprint of the novel (written in 1951) Huxley claims that the biggest flaw in his story is that a protagonist (“the Savage”) is given only two alternatives. Huxley writes: “If I were now to rewrite the book, I would offer the Savage a third alternative … in a community of exiles and refugees from the Brave New World.”The comic novel Thoreau Bound might be the third alternative — between the technological utopians and the computer-smashing neo-Luddites — that Huxley had in mind.O. Thoreau has more problems than Casanova. Like his ancestor Henry David, he is pummeled by the mass-culture that substitutes an artificial life for a real one, and deadens his creative genius. To find his authentic self he needs solitude — yet everywhere he wanders women flutter and fall around him like October leaves.

With 50 books in his backpack and 100 bucks in his pocket, the wanderlusting Thoreau saunters through the heart of modern Greece. Here he encounters a dozen extraordinary women and men, each one who has left the beaten path to search for a more glorious existence. In the middle of his exotic journey, Thoreau discovers a hilarious Utopia, a community of liberated women — women wise, wonderful and wild. In this endangered paradise, healthy sexuality is celebrated, the natural world is treasured, work is play, creativity is nurtured, and the hearts of every individual flourish with laughter and genuine Love.

Thoreau Bound explores the problems and themes of love, eros, Utopia, and the search for an authentic and meaningful life. The era of Don Juans and the exploitation of women is ending; a new model of human relationships is about to dawn. In the utopias of the future, women and men will relate as equal partners, nourishing each other with the utmost passion, compassion, and sincerity.

544 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 2011

About the author

Michael Pastore, is a novelist, a non-fiction author, and a poet who lives in the counter-cultured city of Ithaca, New York. He has traveled extensively -- always by bicycle, often sleeping under the stars -- in the USA, Europe, Turkey, and Greece. His more than 20 books include Thoreau Bound: a Utopian Romance in the Isles of Greece; Lark's Magic (a funny novel for children); Zen in the Art of Child Maintenance (novel); Zenlightenment; The Zorba Anthology of Love Stories; New Techniques in Child Maintenance; The Ithaca Manual of Style; and Teaching Kindness and Peace. His book of poems is Sappho at the Edge of Love: 100 poems by Michael Pastore.
Pastore's articles, essays, and interviews -- about literature, sustainable living, children and childhood, humanizing technology, and creativity -- have appeared in more than two dozen print publications nationwide. He lives in the small city of Ithaca (New York, USA) with his library of more than 8,000 of the world's best books. About the importance of literature he writes: "Why read? ... The best books give us timeless hours of portable joy, expand our empathy and imagination, remind us of our past, bring hope to our future, caution us to live wisely, empassion us to seize the moment, show us ideals embodied in heroes and heroines, inspire us to be great lovers and rebels, give us courage to dare to be ourselves, corroborate our most sublime feelings, and point the way to deeper meaning in our everyday lives."