Annie Dillard is a writer who takes joy in writing, in learning, and piecing it all together. In her most well-known book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, she perfects the art. The book is like Thoreau's Walden revised for a 20th Century audience (in fact, Dillard references the American philosopher several times) but with a more playful voice. Dillard explores the world around Tinker Creek, where she lives for the duration of the book, and interacts with the place, from watching a praying mantis egg sac hatch to standing in a field so full of grasshoppers the entire thing is moving, to a neighbour boy carrying a snapping turtle with leeches on it, to lying under the stars and considering their vastness.

Within all this, Dillard maintains a wit and a clever storytelling that is endlessly enjoyable. Every sentence drips with her own sharp prose. She is an avid reader, and intersperses religious texts, philosophy, nature writing and obscure historical books with her observations and ideas. She moves from micro to macro, and paints a landscape image of this place beautifully and excitingly. Wonderful.