The Tree Climbing Cure

The Tree Climbing Cure confirms what many of us knew as children—that there’s something intrinsically good about gazing down at the world from precarious perches in trees. It’s no wonder that there’s abundant literature and art devoted to the tree-climbing (and other ways of being near trees), and Andy Brown deeply examines this aesthetic tradition in his excellent contribution to the current movement of arboreal ecocriticism. -- Scott Slovic, University Distinguished Professor of Environmental Humanities, University of Idaho, USA If the art of climbing rock has a long and popular literary and artistic history, why are those who climb trees associated with immaturity and derangement? Who knew that tree climbers, too, have a long and fascinating artistic history which Andy Brown reveals in this remarkable book? Without dodging the difficult questions, Brown carefully considers the wellbeing issues raised by tree climbing arts. And you don’t have to leave the ground to feel the benefits sensitively conveyed by this uplifting book. -- Terry Gifford, author of The Joy of Climbing, Green Voices, Pastoral and Reconnecting With John Muir. Andy Brown's The Tree Climbing Cure is a fascinating study of tree climbers and tree climbing in literature and art as well as in practice across Europe and North America. The book's emphasis on the restorative power of tree climbing is particularly timely. The Tree Climbing Cure will appeal to a range of readers, from scholars and students of ecocriticism and environmental philosophy to anyone who enjoys time among trees. -- Karen Thornber, Harry Tuchman Levin Professor in Literature and Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, USA, author of 'Ecoambiguity' and 'Global Healing'