“The Overstory”

I am enthralled with Richard Powers’ 2018 book “The Overstory”. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction so I’m not the only one who likes it a lot. I’m not finished with it yet, so can’t guarantee that it won’t let me down in some way before I’m done, but I don’t see how it could. The writing is gorgeous, the characters interesting, and the “overstory” itself is about trees. 

I’ve always loved trees, but Powers has educated me immensely about them and their contribution to our life on earth. I’ve even been driven to look back through some of my photographs to see how frequently I focused on trees, and what miraculous things they are. Their variety, sizes, shapes, textures, and colors are only the visible evidence of their beauty; what they DO is nothing short of mind-bending. The recent news of the number of trees being lost in the Amazon and the devastating environmental effect of that loss to the world makes this book even more timely and important. And besides, it’s an imaginative, descriptive and thought-provoking wonder. It’s been a long time since I felt that way about a book.