A review by sashagrons
Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill

3.0

I read this book because I wanted to learn more about tree planting life - especially the human side of it. Instead, I found myself skipping through long passages about the biology of forests and the history of tree planting back to the Romans. I suppose I wanted something different than what this book is: I wanted more of a journalistic take on tree planting (the industry, the power struggles, the relationship with logging) interwoven with some incisive personal reflections about tree planting life, including what it means to be a woman in this field. Instead, it felt more like a meditation on the act of planting trees itself, down to the smallest detail. They tell you not to write in cliches, but...perhaps this was a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. :P (Also, by the end of the book, I still have very little clue as to why people choose to plant trees for years on end. It sounds awful.)