Limber - Softcover

Pelster, Angela

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1936747758 ISBN 13: 9781936747757

Publisher: Sarabande Books, 2014

Synopsis

"What a strange and unexpected treasure chest this is, filled with all manner of quirky revelations, all about the mundane sublime and the ineffable extraordinary. Most extraordinary of all, perhaps, through, is the haunting perfection, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, of the writing itself. Who is this Angela Pelster and where has she been all our lives?"-Lawrence WeschlerAngela Pelster's startling essay collection charts the world's history through its trees: through roots in the ground, rings across wood, and inevitable decay. These sharp and tender essays move from her childhood in rural Canada surrounded by skinny poplar trees in her backyard to a desert in Niger, where the "Loneliest Tree in the World" once grew. A squirrel's decomposing body below a towering maple prompts a discussion of the science of rot, as well as a metaphor for the ways in which nature programs us to consume ourselves. Beautiful, deeply thoughtful, and wholly original, "Limber" valiantly asks what it means to sustain life on this planet we've inherited.Angela Pelster's essays have appeared in "Granta," the "Gettysburg Review," "Seneca Review," the "Globe and Mail," "Relief Magazine," and others. Her children's novel "The Curious Adventures of India Sophia" won the Golden Eagle Children's Choice award in 2006. She has an MFA from the University of Iowa's nonfiction writing program and lives with her family in Baltimore, Maryland, where she teaches at Towson University.

About this title

Review:

"[Limber] is one of the quirkiest and most original books about the natural world that I have read in quite some time. . . . Filled with precise, poetical and sparse language, the essays reveal not just the life of trees but how they connect us to the greater world around us."
--Seattle Times

"Pelster takes the title of her ruminative essay collection from the book's second essay, "Burmis," where she discusses limber pine trees. . . . Her essays, ostensibly often about the natural world, demonstrate a similar quality in the way Pelster maneuvers her discussion of trees and animals to dark places of experience."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Pelster's essay collection . . . proves nimble and curious, with essays on subjects such as: trees, mortality, decay, and history. Whether Pelster is talking about an old mining town buried alive, a tree that belonged only to itself, or a mother buried with her children in the desert, her prose invites the reader to pause and wonder. Some essays, such as "By Way of the Beginning," "Temple," and "Rot," combine moments both mundane and sublime: the memory of beliefs we wish we'd never had, raking leaves, and caterpillars in the summer. Pelster questions our mortality, how we define ourselves, and faith; and has fun doing so. . . . The book is sure to appeal to those who are interested in nature writing and, with its mystical feel--"chart[ing] the world's history through its trees"--to fans of creative nonfiction as well."
--Publishers Weekly

"As the author reveals in these charming essays, nature is imbued with enticing mysteries, and trees can be agents of salvation."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Pelster offers up 17 beautiful and varied pieces that reawaken the reader's sense of trees as both corporeal and symbolic objects. . . . Pelster reveals herself to be a sharp observer with an expansive imagination and an exquisite writer."
--The Cedar Rapids Gazette

"Like the roots of the trees Angela Pelster writes about--which at the time of their development "were an uncontainable force that drilled and crumbled the rock of the world"--these poetic essays on trees, humans and their interactions with nature are profound and beautiful."
--Shelf Awareness

"[Limber] is one of the quirkiest and most original books about the natural world that I have read in quite some time. . . . Filled with precise, poetical and sparse language, the essays reveal not just the life of trees but how they connect us to the greater world around us."
--Seattle Times

"Pelster takes the title of her ruminative essay collection from the book's second essay, "Burmis," where she discusses limber pine trees. . . . Her essays, ostensibly often about the natural world, demonstrate a similar quality in the way Pelster maneuvers her discussion of trees and animals to dark places of experience."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Pelster's essay collection . . . proves nimble and curious, with essays on subjects such as: trees, mortality, decay, and history. Whether Pelster is talking about an old mining town buried alive, a tree that belonged only to itself, or a mother buried with her children in the desert, her prose invites the reader to pause and wonder. Some essays, such as "By Way of the Beginning," "Temple," and "Rot," combine moments both mundane and sublime: the memory of beliefs we wish we'd never had, raking leaves, and caterpillars in the summer. Pelster questions our mortality, how we define ourselves, and faith; and has fun doing so. . . . The book is sure to appeal to those who are interested in nature writing and, with its mystical feel--"chart[ing] the world's history through its trees"--to fans of creative nonfiction as well."
--Publishers Weekly

"As the author reveals in these charming essays, nature is imbued with enticing mysteries, and trees can be agents of salvation."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Pelster offers up 17 beautiful and varied pieces that reawaken the reader's sense of trees as both corporeal and symbolic objects. . . . Pelster reveals herself to be a sharp observer with an expansive imagination and an exquisite writer."
--The Cedar Rapids Gazette

"Like the roots of the trees Angela Pelster writes about--which at the time of their development "were an uncontainable force that drilled and crumbled the rock of the world"--these poetic essays on trees, humans and their interactions with nature are profound and beautiful."
--Shelf Awareness

About the Author:

Angela Pelster's essays have appeared in Granta, The Gettysburg Review, Seneca Review, The Globe and Mail, Relief Magazine, and others. Her children's novel The Curious Adventures of India Sophia won the Golden Eagle Children's Choice award in 2006. She has an MFA from the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program and lives with her family in Baltimore where teaches at Towson University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sarabande Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1936747758
• ISBN 13: 9781936747757
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 152