January 2019 – Page 2 – Ann S. Epstein Writer

What I’m Reading: The Overstory by Richard Powers

My Amazon and Goodreads review of The Overstory (Rating 4) – The Disappearing Story in Overstory. We read in The Overstory by Richard Powers that “The best argument in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.” So does this novel succeed as a story, or is it a polemic about saving the environment leafed out as fiction? Powers intertwines his story of the life of trees with that of nine individuals whose parallel journeys intersect. Both plants and people possess the traits we see outside (aboveground) and complex networks hidden within (belowground). Unfortunately, what begins as a very good story indeed gets overwhelmed by Powers’ urge to tell us everything he knows about trees. The story alas submerged, does the book succeed as an environmental tract? Do we learn what we can do to halt or even reverse the destruction? The disheartening conclusion I drew from The Overstory is that humans should do nothing other than observe and listen (gather data), leaving it to the trees themselves to speak and act. Some may find this solution satisfying, even uplifting. But, while I will never again regard trees without reverence, I ultimately found the book disappointing — neither a good story nor a good path through the world’s forests and jungles.

Learn History Through Fiction: Sticks and Bones

In some ways, life in the village of Loro Piceno, on the east coast of central Italy, hasn’t changed in over 100 years. You get samples of homemade Vino Cotto (literally cooked wine), wherever you go. Butchers still make ciauscolo, the Italian salami typical of Marche. Musicians serenade guests with instruments made of sticks and bones. Read more about this idyllic Italian village a century ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Enjoy homemade Vino Cotto (literally cooked wine) in the village of Loro Piceno, Italy

Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press) by Ann S. Epstein

Learn History Through Fiction: Tattoo Who?

Researching a story on the activism of female circus performers in the suffragette movement, I learned about the history of women and tattoos. At the height of its popularity in the mid-19th century, the circus was one of the few places where women could earn an independent living as sideshow performers. They took advantage of the public’s fascination with body art to tattoo themselves. Ink also became an expression of independence for Victorian women outside the circus, particularly socialites who used it as a form of rebellion. Required by custom to keep their bodies covered, they brought tattoo artists into their homes to ink them in places that could be hidden. Even royals got in on the act. Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston’s mother, had a snake tattoo on her wrist, handily covered by a lace-trimmed sleeve or camouflaged by a bracelet. By the turn of the 20th century, three-quarters of New York City’s society ladies had adopted the fashion, favoring tattoos of butterflies, flowers, and dragons. You could say the first edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves was written on women’s skin. Discover more facts unearthed while researching the reality behind fiction in BEHIND THE STORY.