The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature's Great Connectors

In THE SONGS OF TREES, award-winning nature writer David Haskell repeatedly visits a dozen trees around the world, exploring the trees' connections with webs of fungi, bacterial communities, cooperative and destructive animals, and other plants. In doing this he shows that every living being is not only sustained by biological connections, but is made from these relationships, and that holding a networked view of life enriches our understanding of biology, human nature, and ethics.

About the Author :
David Haskell's work integrates scientific, literary, and contemplative studies of the natural world. He is a professor of biology and environmental studies at the University of the South and a Guggenheim Fellow. His 2012 book The Forest Unseen was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and won the 2013 Best Book Award from the National Academies, the National Outdoor Book Award, and the Reed Environmental Writing Award. Along with his scholarly research, he has published essays, op-eds, and poetry.

Review :
Advance Praise for The Songs of Trees "David George Haskell is a wonderful writer and an equally keen observer of the natural world. The Songs of Trees is at once lyrical and informative, filled with beauty and also a sense of loss." - Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction "Here is a book to nourish the spirit. The Songs of Trees is a powerful argument against the ways in which humankind has severed the very biological networks that give us our place in the world. Listen as David Haskell takes his stethoscope to the heart of nature - and discover the poetry and music contained within." -- Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees "David George Haskell may be the finest literary nature writer working today. The Songs of Trees - compelling, lyrical, wise - is a case in point. Don't miss it." -- Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoner's Handbook "Engaging and eye-opening...Haskell's message is straightforward and important: we are a part of nature, and the trees with whom we share our environment are vital parts of our lives." - Kirkus Reviews "David Haskell has opened up a new dimension in sound - and given us a powerful tool to rethink the way we look at the roots of our reality and how trees are the best way to guide us. A tour de force of sound and symbol. Read. Listen. Learn." --Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky "With a poet's ear and a naturalist's eye Haskell re-roots us in life's grand creative struggle and encourages us to turn away from empty individuality. The Songs of Trees reminds us that we are not alone, and never have been." --Neil Shea, writer, National Geographic "David Haskell does the impossible in The Song of Trees. He picks out a dozen trees around the world and inspects each one with the careful eye of a scientist. But from those observations, he produces a work of great poetry, showing how these trees are joined to the natural world around them, and to humanity as well." --Carl Zimmer, author of A Planet of Viruses "David Haskell writes with uncommon insight and sensitivity: listening and giving voice to the ineluctable networks in which trees and all human experiences are embedded." --Peter Crane, President, Oak Spring Garden Foundation Praise for The Forest Unseen "Haskell thinks like a biologist, writes like a poet, and gives the natural world the kind of open-minded attention one expects from a Zen monk rather than a hypothesis-driven scientist." --The New York Times "Haskell's observational powers are impressive, his descriptions evocative, his knowledge wide-ranging, and his conclusions thoughtful and generous." --The Wall Street Journal "Haskell's book is above all else a masterpiece of contextualization. It's a book not about hawks or snails or bacteria or coyotes, though it includes them all, but about their--and our--shared ecology." --The Times Literary Supplement