Since its initial publication, Pilgrim has been lauded by critics. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek was published by Harper's Magazine Press shortly after Dillard's first book, a volume of poetry titled Tickets for a Prayer Wheel. Critics often compare Dillard to authors from the Transcendentalist movement Edward Abbey in particular deemed her Thoreau's "true heir". The book is analogous in design and genre to Henry David Thoreau's Walden (1854), the subject of Dillard's master's thesis at Hollins College. Dillard considers the story a "single sustained nonfiction narrative", although several chapters have been anthologized separately in magazines and other publications. The author has described it as a "book of theology", and she rejects the label of nature writer. It touches on themes of faith, nature, and awareness, and is also noted for its study of theodicy and the cruelty of the natural world. The book records the narrator's thoughts on solitude, writing, and religion, as well as scientific observations on the flora and fauna she encounters.
Separated into four sections that signify each of the seasons, the narrative takes place over the period of one year. Dillard began Pilgrim in the spring of 1973, using her personal journals as inspiration. The title refers to Tinker Creek, which is outside Roanoke in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.
Told from a first-person point of view, the book details Dillard's explorations near her home, and various contemplations on nature and life. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is a 1974 nonfiction narrative book by American author Annie Dillard.
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