One brave baker, a "14-day" lockdown and the ghost of Henry David Thoreau

Blazing Reader,

I've been working on a novella, set about four months before Much Ado About Corona, in the middle of the first lockdown. The entire novella is narrated from the point of view of Stefanie, Moosehead's artisan baker of ultra-fermented sourdough breads.

Much Ado About Corona was written entirely from inside Vince's head. With this new story, it's been a fun challenge to get to know Stefanie better. In the process, I discovered a secret about her: She converses with the ghost of Henry David Thoreau.

Adding Thoreau to the novella has been a trip. I reread his classic essay, "Civil Disobedience," and am astounded at what a profound treatise it is on not only the dangers of government but the power of the individual. Here are a few examples of Thoreau's wit and wisdom from his 1849 dissertation:

"The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way."

"If men were to judge [legislators] wholly by the effects of their actions, and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to be classed and punished with those mischievous persons who put obstructions on railroads."

"[The majority rule] not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the stronger."

You can purchase a print copy of Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" (praised by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi) and support my work over here.

John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.