For her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard received the Pulitzer Prize in 1977, before she turned thirty. In it, she records, gradually from spring to winter, a year of her life spent by Tinker Creek in Virginia. The author composes her contemplations on nature from diary entries, but the work is far from a simple diary. It is an unusual combination of perceptive lay observations, engaging scientific descriptions, and philosophical reflections ranging from the microscopic world to the entire universe. Based on specific observations of various natural and life forms, Dillard, writing in a rich, poetic language, contemplates fundamental issues - chaos and order, evolution and creation, good and evil, the flourishing of life and its decay. During her wanderings in nature, she experiences both intense mystical experiences and the ordinary joy of mindful and patient observation. Genre-wise, in its scope and perspective, the book somewhat evokes Thoreau's Walden, which was also the subject of the author's university thesis. In 1998, the prestigious publisher Modern Library included the work among the 100 best nonfiction books. The author's motto is, 'How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives...'
