>> in malden, massachusetts. >> so you were right around where he was. >> yes, but you got to keep in mind we might have been 5,000 miles away from concord, massachusetts. these are tough, irish working class towns and anybody who claimed any kind of converse sans with emerson was alienated immediately. >> when did you start reading him? >> when i entered graduate school. i knew there was some kind of renewed excitement about this guy. various teachers of mine were talking him up and i wanted to see what it was they were talking about. i tried in college but i found therouguh. >> what do you go to him for? >> he goes to one tenet in life, that is consumerism. simplify, simplify, simplify you. there is no writer who knows more about the perils of consumerism. he talks about people out there working hard, making themselves sick, laying up money for the day they fall sick. there's nobody better than therough for showing you what's most valuable in life. time, nature, reading, writing, and getting you to get some kind of distance on what's most draining in life, money, stuff, conspicuous