The Overstory by Richard Powers

This is a magnificent, important, necessary book.  My book-pusher friend Marianna lent it to me and by the time I was halfway through, I realized I would want to read it again. So now I have my own copy.

The Overstory belongs to the trees--and to the various humans who are attempting to understand the myriad secrets the trees are sharing. Every root tendril, every bud, every sprout, every exhalation of gasses from a tree--all are packed with meaning and message for Earth and its creatures.

The novel--and it is a novel, not a documentary--follows the stories of eight humans, most of whom are seeking to preserve old-growth forests. The inter-connectedness of humans to one another and to the natural world is an echo of the amazing biome created in forests--and even in single trees.

Powers is lyrical in his beautiful presentation of the minutiae of the life of the forest and the trees that are its backbone. And all this information is woven magically into a compelling story that, now, more than ever, begs to be read.  As I said, a necessary book.

And if you read it, you'll never look at trees in quite the same way as you did before.

Highly, highly recommended!