Overview

An exquisite, lovingly crafted meditation on plants, trees, and our place in the natural world, in the tradition of Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass and Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek I was tired of speed. I wanted to live tree time. So writes Sumana Roy at the start of How I Became a Tree, her captivating, adventurous, and self-reflective vision of what it means to be human in the natural world. Drawn to trees' wisdom, their nonviolent way of being, their ability to cope with loneliness and pain, Roy movingly explores the lessons that writers, painters, photographers, scientists, and spiritual figures have gleaned through their engagement with trees--from Rabindranath Tagore to Tomas Transtr�mer, Ovid to Octavio Paz, William Shakespeare to Margaret Atwood. Her stunning meditations on forests, plant life, time, self, and the exhaustion of being human evoke the spacious, relaxed rhythms of the trees themselves. Hailed upon its original publication in India as a love song to plants and trees and an ode to all that is unnoticed, ill, neglected, and yet resilient, How I Became a Tree blends literary history, theology, philosophy, botany, and more, and ultimately prompts readers to slow down and to imagine a reenchanted world in which humans live more like trees.

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Reviews

"A book like a jungle: from the wide sky to sticky leaves and unsightly thorns, everything is included. -- ""Deutschlandfunk Kultur (Berlin)"" A poetic, probing meditation...a fresh and surprising look at a topic as old as the Epic of Gilgamesh, or to put it another way, almost as old as the oldest living trees. -- ""Robert Moor, author of On Trails"" A radiant and wondrous book. -- ""Robert Macfarlane, author of The Old Ways"" An ode to all that is unnoticed, ill, neglected, and yet resilient...Roy's true spiritual ancestor...is Annie Dillard. -- ""The Wire India"" Not just a meditation on trees but also an exploration of how they have functioned in literary history, theology, and this world of ours. -- ""Literary Hub"" Roy weaves together science, nature, personal narrative, literature, sociology, and more to keep the reader turning pages--and to turn us all into tree-lovers. -- ""The Rumpus"" Soneela Nankani has the perfect soothing voice for this meditation... Through her tone, pitch, and style, Nankani embodies the ruminative and centering aim of the audiobook...A welcome listen. -- ""AudioFile"" This is one of the most original, delightful, inspiring books I have read in a long time. It will enchant and move the reader with its unique imaginative mindset, its humorous touches, and its defiance of convention. -- ""Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale University"""

A book like a jungle: from the wide sky to sticky leaves and unsightly thorns, everything is included. -- Deutschlandfunk Kultur (Berlin) A poetic, probing meditation...a fresh and surprising look at a topic as old as the Epic of Gilgamesh, or to put it another way, almost as old as the oldest living trees. -- Robert Moor, author of On Trails A radiant and wondrous book. -- Robert Macfarlane, author of The Old Ways An ode to all that is unnoticed, ill, neglected, and yet resilient...Roy's true spiritual ancestor...is Annie Dillard. -- The Wire India Not just a meditation on trees but also an exploration of how they have functioned in literary history, theology, and this world of ours. -- Literary Hub Roy weaves together science, nature, personal narrative, literature, sociology, and more to keep the reader turning pages--and to turn us all into tree-lovers. -- The Rumpus Soneela Nankani has the perfect soothing voice for this meditation... Through her tone, pitch, and style, Nankani embodies the ruminative and centering aim of the audiobook...A welcome listen. -- AudioFile This is one of the most original, delightful, inspiring books I have read in a long time. It will enchant and move the reader with its unique imaginative mindset, its humorous touches, and its defiance of convention. -- Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale University

Author Information

Sumana Roy is associate professor of English and creative writing at Ashoka University in Haryana, India. She is the author of Missing: A Novel, Out of Syllabus: Poems, and My Mother's Lover and Other Stories. Soneela Nankani is the award-winning narrator of over 300 titles in many different genres, including young adult, fantasy, romance, sci-fi, and nonfiction. A recipient of AudioFile magazine's Golden Voice Lifetime Achievement Honor, she has garnered sixteen Earphones awards as well as nominations for Audie and SOVAS awards. Her audiobooks have been featured in Best Audiobooks lists by AudioFile and the Washington Post, among others. In her spare time, she loves to read (yes, really), learn languages, try new recipes, and travel. She lives in the DC area with her husband and two mischievous daughters.

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