In an intellectual hamlet, century-old love letters give rise to murder The citizens of Concord, Massachusetts, never tire of their heritage. For decades, the intellectuals of this little hamlet have continued endless debates about Concord's favorite sons: Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and their contemporaries. Concord's latter-day transcendental scholars are a strange bunch, but none is more peculiar than Homer Kelly, an expert on Emerson and on homicide....

"In this passionate, deeply personal book, Adam Nicolson explains why Homer matters -- to him, to you, to the world -- in a text full of twists, turns and surprises. In a spectacular journey through mythical and modern landscapes, Adam Nicholson explores the places forever haunted by their Homeric heroes. From Sicily, awash with wildflowers shadowed by Italy's largest oil refinery, to Ithaca, southern Spain, and the mountains on the edges of Andalusia...

Discusses the triumphs and defeats of the Greek and Trojan heroes during the Trojan War and the destruction of Troy by combined Greek armies.

Contains the complete sixth season of the animated television sit-com of the satiric adventures of a working class family, the Simpsons.