Seeds: One Man's Serendipitous Journey To Find The Trees That Inspired Famous American Writers. . .

\ 

Seeds: One Man's Serendipitous Journey To Find The Trees That Inspired Famous American Writers From Faulkner to Kerouac, Welty to Wharton by Richard Horan made its way into my sights thanks to Barnes and Noble placing many of their books on sale. This was one and the title caught my eye. As a lover of nature and literature alike, I was of course curious to find out what this man's ideas were, and for less than $2.99 I was willing to find out.

Horan got the crazy notion to travel around the US and collect seeds from trees that may have inspired great minds. Going to the homes of authors he found trees that had been there long enough to witness these materminds at work. So he gathered seeds about these trees and took them home to germinate them in the hopes of giving them as gifts. I have to admit, I would love to have a tree in my front yard that was the progeny of one of the trees lining the path in the woods that was less traveled (Frost). It would be a great source of inspiration when writing my own works, I believe. So  I found this tale a unique one.

This was also the first book I began reading on my vacation to California, one that was not on any reading list I had planned at the beginning of the year, and was therefore a nice break from what I was already working on. It did a great job of taking me away from the monotony of series books and classics, as well as being an interesting non-fiction. I think it was perfect for the drive nearly across country and I am so glad that I took the time tor ead it.

All that being said let me point out one thing I should mention. While the book has a very obvious story to tell, I did find it a little directionless. Yes the author had no set order or pattern by which to collect the seeds, that is not the point. It was that there was no real resolution. In the end he was finally able to find a little help with his project but even that made no real ending to this journey of seeds. So if you are one who has to have a set ending or finale to a tle, then perhaps you shouldn't read this one. But if you can overlook that one liitle thing, I think anyone can enjoy this unique tale of writing and nature.

If you were to take a trip to gather seeds from trees that have witnessed greatness, who would be on your list? Terry Brooks, Abraham Lincoln, Maggie Smith, and Alan Alda would probably be at the top of my list. Let me know who would be on yours, and if you have read the book tell me what you thought of it!