Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. New York: Harper Perennial, 1999. Print
This collection of essays chronicles one year in the Blue Ridge valley (Virginia). Dillard lives in the Blue Ridge valley, next to Tinker Creek, and her essays in this book record her explorations of the valley and creek--but it ends up being so much more than that. Dillard explores ideas and beliefs and images through her observations, and she ends up coming up with some stunning insights. Dillard is a contemporary essayist, but her style often reflects many attributes of the personal essay. The exploratory and meditative aspect of essays is something that Dillard does excellently. It will be great to study her essays in the context of the classical British essay, and see how she parallels certain characteristics of essays and also how she deviates from the essay tradition. Excellent contemporary examples.
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