City of Trees: Essays on Life, Death and the Need for a Forest

by Sophie Cunningham

How do we take in the beauty of our planet while processing the losses? What trees can survive in the city? Which animals can survive in the wild? How do any of us—humans, animals, trees—find a forest we can call home?

In these moving, thought-provoking essays Sophie Cunningham considers the meaning of trees and our love of them. She chronicles the deaths of both her fathers, and the survival of P-22, a mountain lion in Griffith Park, Los Angeles; contemplates the loneliness of Ranee, the first elephant in Australia; celebrates the iconic eucalyptus and explores its international status as an invasive species.

City of Trees is a powerful collection of nature, travel and memoir writing set in the context of global climate change. It meanders through, circles around and sometimes faces head on the most pressing issues of the day. It never loses sight of the trees.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Nature, Memoir, Environment, 21st Century, Australia

312 pages, Hardcover

Published April 2, 2019

About the author

Sophie Cunningham is the author of six books including City of Trees: Essays on Life, Death and the Need for a Forest (Text, 2020). She is also the editor of the collection Fire, Flood, Plague: Australian writers respond to 2020 (Vintage, 2020).

Reviews

[Michael Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant collection of essays, inspired by Cunningham's growing obsessions with trees, but delving into history, love, grief and so much more. A ripper.

[Text Publishing]

‘[Cunningham’s] naif, free-form style, is a perfect foil for the stories-within-stories-within stories that lie at the heart of this important, entertaining and moving book.’
Age

‘[The] ability to hold and make space for opposing concepts is where the strength and beauty of [Cunningham’s] writing lies...City of Trees is a breath of fresh air accompanied by the knowledge of how much is lost, or is being lost...Through these essays one can find the hope and understanding to live and thrive in these dark times.'
Readings Monthly

‘In this poignant and timely collection of essays, Sophie Cunningham touches on matters private and political, historical and current, beautiful and terrifying.’
Books + Publishing

‘City of Trees is a sorrowful meditation on the effects of climate change and time, but it is also full of wonder, of hope.’
Kill Your Darlings

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s books like this that remind me of why I read. These essays are ostensibly about the natural world but they’re also about loss and love and life. They’re moving and informative and while reading this I spend entire evenings off on tangents, googling mountain lions or olive groves or just sitting with my wonder and awe. A real pleasure.

[Anna Baillie-Karas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This essay collection is like spending time with a friend who is constantly interesting. Strong writing - bracing & intelligent. It’s my favourite kind of idiosyncratic travel memoir as Cunningham explores things he’s curious about: San Francisco, Melbourne, tourism, biodiversity & a recurring theme of trees. A delightful, stimulating read.

[Sonia Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophie Cunningham’s collection of essays, City of Trees, has been broadly classified as ‘travel writing’ – but if we are to attach this moniker to it, we must also acknowledge that Cunningham has dramatically recast the meaning of travel writing and redefined her terms of engagement with places, people and the act of travelling.

Read my full review of City of Trees on Kill Your Darlings: https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/a...

[Frankie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, I thought it was beautiful, but it did leave me with a bonedeep sadness (for very legit reasons). Like Sophie Cunningham, our treatment of old growth forests is the thing that makes me lose hope the most, and I found the spotlight on this and our relationship with animals and trees difficult. I found myself squinting to read it at times because it hurt to look at. The stories she is telling here about grief (in the traditional sense, since she was dealing with the death of both her fathers) and the kind of shadowloss (concept from Cole Imperi) brought about by extinction and destruction of habitat, are incredibly important. I appreciate this work so much. Having written this review I'm going to change my review from 4 stars to 5 stars, since the only thing that is stopping me from doing so is that it made me sad, which is not the author's fault of course.

[Brona's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cunningham has included line drawings of trees and some of their inhabitants throughout the chapters. Each essay is also littered with family stories and personal memories. Her reflections on grief and loss were particularly moving. However, it's her love of trees and the knowledge she has gained about them over the years that is the centre piece of this work.

As you would expect, the environmental messages in this book are active and strong. They colour Cunningham's view of the world. Since I share similar sensibilities with her, I found her essays to be beautiful, heartfelt and undeniable.

Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2019/...

[Christine Sanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly informative ..a travelogue but also an environmental account of the world and her trees and other flora and fauna. Great moments in history..well researched and left me feeling a bit apprehensive about the future of our natural world. Learnt a lot about Australian history through trees

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

City of Trees contains some beautiful writing, but as a series of essays it suffers from repetition and disjointedness. I had also read a number of similar books recently: Phosphorescence, Understory: A Life with Trees by Inga Simpson and The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben.

[Lindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just finished Sophie Cunningham's wonderful book, City of Trees. It provides so much rich information about Melbourne's trees and I am writing a book set in Prahran, but even the chapters on trees in the US are fascinating. Great read.

[Emmaby Barton Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

“being in the presence of giant sequoia is like being in the presence of qualities christianity ascribes to god. there are individual giant species still living that are older than buddhism, islam, christianity, judaism. if one of these trees started a religion, this is the religion i would join… i’m not a formally religious person but i did wonder, for a moment, if looking into that landscape was like looking into the eye of god”

i’ve had this on my shelf for years and kept putting it off because i didn’t know if i care enough about trees to read a whole book about them. turns out i do! but also this book isn’t really about trees - or it is, but its about so much more than that - life, family, animals, nature, earth, humanity, tourism, gentrification, colonisation, sophie’s life, and as sophie puts it, her “random collection of thoughts:. its beautifully written, made me appreciate nature more than i do, and reflect and appreciate on various other issues that sophie explores throughout the book. also loved that a lot of it was set in melbourne!

some thoughts i wrote down while reading
- writes beautifully
- slay she is gay!!! and from melbourne!
- “since 2015, its been possible to email thousands of Melbourne’s trees directly, and more than four thousand people have taken advantage of this opportunity”
- marked all the parts where she mentions old/cool trees in melbourne/victoria. i want to visit them with my mum, learn more about nature from her - she has always tried to get me to care more and she will be glad that the older i get, the more interested i am.
- wild law - something to look into
- the drawings at the start of most chapters were cute - if i had more faith in my abilities, i would colour them in haha. i do wish we got photos of all the places sophie described as well though - especially the trees!!
- maybe i do like some travel writing!! loved her descriptions of the US (makes me want to visit), of melbourne. she has done so many cool things! volunteering at alcatraz! all her walks! all the places she’s visited! hiking the grand canyon!
- ultimately this book made me further appreciate how cool nature etc is. except then i always feel something is wrong with me if i don’t experience those same feelings of awe and wonder in real life that others do lol. but sometimes i do. just have to remind myself we all have different things we appreciate!!
- all the things that are impacted that we dont even realise - even things so mundane such as the daily sounds we hear
- “there are so many things that I never took the chance to tell my father about me, his only daughter”
- the hunger stones: “when you see me, cry”
- climate change being described as world war three

“i do not want to give in to the siren song of a resolved narrative. one that makes sense of what humans are doing to this planet, or what the passage of time does to us”

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

As might be guessed from the full title City of Trees: Essays on Life, Death and the Need for a Forest this book of essays ties together a number of disparate topics: trees, the natural world, human heedlessness, loving and dying. Each of the essays, many of which have been published elsewhere previously, is prefaced by a pencil sketch of a particular tree- the Coast Live Oak in America, the Giant Sequoia, the Ginkgo, Eucalyptus, Moreton Bay Fig, Coolibah etc. Then follows a short piece of writing about the tree, sometimes interwoven with personal reflection or historical anecdote. A more substantial essay then ensues, not necessarily closely related to the shorter preface....

I always find it difficult to review short stories and books of essays. Despite the care in creating an overarching structure for these essays, I did find them particularly - and at time, too - discursive within themselves. The ache for the environment comes through strongly, but in many ways I preferred the more intimate human stories.

For my complete review, please visit
http://residentjudge.com/2020/09/19/c...

[Zara Chauvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like if Didion’s Slouching towards Bethlehem compiled essays were written by a very chill, tree-loving old Melbournite.

Each essay seems to conclude with the general theme of: ‘Trees are delightful, people are problematic, what can ya do!’. I enjoy this theme and am happy to dwell on this meandering and generally directionless idea for 304 pages - but this may leave those expecting strict contentions dissatisfied.

Emphasis on negative environmental trends-and details of plant and animal suffering- are a little bleak and uninspiring.

I usually find collections of essays by one author either too disparate and unconnected, or too repetitive, but this book was actually beautifully put together with a great balance. On theme (~trees) with a consistent writing style, and every essay offering something new.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
"A forest without large old trees is like a city without enough food, water, housing or clean air"
I am constantly drawn to tree literature, a niche literary subset. This was lovely, a collection of quite meandering essays mixing history, reflections and current events with personal grief and experiences. At times it was a bit dry, but always came back around. I loved being surprised with a whole chapter about my treasured 367 Collins falcon family, who I watch daily. It is fortuitous that I read that chapter and finished the book today as the first chick of the 2021 brood hatched, a glorious and tear inducing moment. Nature is so special, and the need for more meaningful urban forests and protection of old forests is pertinent.

[Robyn Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous, fabulous book. I bought this book when it first came out in 2019 after reading a positive review in the weekend papers. I was doing my Artist-in-residency at the Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens at the time and it sounded to be right up my alley.
I am almost ashamed to admit that it has sat on my shelves from then until now simply because it is a book of ESSAYS!
I am such a novel reader, I couldn't muster up the energy to attempt essay reading!
What was wrong with me?
Well I've read it now and it's very moving, well researched, informative and extremely readable.
The illustrations done by the author, leave a lot to be desired (being an artist myself) .
Next time I could do them for you Sophie.
Trees are my thing.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book in a day! The essays ranged from historical anecdotes, modern moments and the prose was wonderful. The sections on grief were deeply powerful. I loved reading about bushwalks I'd completed and new bushwalks I wanted to do. The essay on my fav little falcons that grew up in Collins Street was beautiful and heartbreaking even though I already knew the outcomes having watched them in real time. The sections in America I also really enjoyed, particularly around SF.

I borrowed this book off a friend and now I fear I have to buy it due to the rereading potential.

[Loki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought-provoking and empathetic, this collection of essays talks at length about our connection to the natural world, mostly trees, but also elephants, falcons and more. It talks about grief and loss, and the griefs and losses we may yet avoid if we take the looming ecological disasters facing us seriously. It talks of ecology in a way Vonnegut would recognise, extending his exhortation "God damn it, you’ve got to be kind" to the whole ecosphere. Highly recommended.

[Lewis Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was describing this book to someone and they told me "that sounds really depressing lewis why are you reading that" etc etc to that sort of effect. im a little disappointed in that mindset - yes, the entire word is burning down around us, and we seem remiss to do anything about it, but so what? should we bury our heads in the sand? we need to write about this, we need to read and write things that makes us uncomfortable because its better to die on our feet than be on our knees

[Lee Belbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the diversity of the essays. Being an Australian who has worked in ecology for over 25 years, and being married to an escapee from the USA, I had many feelings aligning with the author. The great majority of us humans have no concept of protecting the environment. Unlike many trees, we live short lives and fail to see the devastation we are imposing on our planet.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, its mixture of thoughts on nature, memoir, and travel writing, as well as essays with really thought-provoking topics. The prose was beautiful, and all the different aspects of this book blended into one seamlessly, giving it the feeling of a long afternoon chat with a close friend.

[Zimeng Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

One quote I really like:
“Loss and grief, can feel like many strands or like one large knot. The emotion does not necessarily make you cry, or even feel sad, but leads to a certain unraveling of self as that knot comes undone.”

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, thought provoking book. At times leaving me close to tears. Perfect for this time of species and habitat loss in the world. A reflection on the beauty of nature, trees, forests, animals, wild things and relationships all in one.
Highly recommend.

[Hannah Wattangeri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of essays had some fascinating and interesting information on trees, the environment and the destructive impact of humans on the environment. Reading it all in one go, it jumped around a lot and some essays not so enthralling as others

[Jennifer Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about trees, their features, location and struggles, but also people and the world. It's a book to interact with and discuss with other people; comparing reactions to facts and ideas while mulling these in your own mind. Such a unique book format and reading experience, I loved it.

[Anne Smithyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming collection of stories around trees, walking and cities. Some chapters are surprising - like the one on Alcatraz. I found this an easy enjoyable read. It makes you aware of the value of our forests and ancient trees. We are losing so many of our great forests.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snippets of this. Snippets of that. Snippets of everything really. Some snippets I enjoyed. Some snippets held no interest. A lot of these essays and learnings were based in Melbourne, my hometown. This book was about much more than trees for which I am grateful.

[Lucinda Bain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant collection of essays. Impeccably researched, and written in an accessible and engaging way. It’s not all that often you read an essay collection that has that ‘can’t put down’ quality of a gripping novel. A pleasurable read.

[Vi Giang · Rating 4 out of 5]

a collection of informative, well-crafted and inspiring essays; my only issue with it, and this is entirely personal, is that i am not australian enough to understand all of the vocab, making the reading experience a bit laggy at times

[Andres Kabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb, subtle collection of essays on trees, nature, politics, and death, all told in a soft yet firm style that hits home. This could well be my favorite book of 2019.

[Diana O’Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvellous, thoughtful, but not pretentious. A delightful edifying collection of essays, loosely assembled around trees concerned with Life.