Yup, he's an irritating mansplainer; I've tried 3 of his books and hated each more than the last-I cannot believe the Pulitzer (well, I can, since the recent ones were equally overrated) Someone at the Guardian had an excellent, bad, review of this, and here's a snippet of my rant on Goodreads! "Powers tells (and tells and tells and tells!) Trees Are Awesome. I normally love novelists writing science, I love novels of ideas, and I agree with his message. BUT, as in his other books, Powers always has this air of being Cleverer Than Anyone Else. The choppy present tense, jarringly florid similes, cardboard characters, absurd thriller aspects and hectoring tone made me resistant rather than sympathetic to the subject. "
Yup, he's an irritating mansplainer; I've tried 3 of his books and hated each more than the last-I cannot believe the Pulitzer (well, I can, since the recent ones were equally overrated) Someone at the Guardian had an excellent, bad, review of this, and here's a snippet of my rant on Goodreads! "Powers tells (and tells and tells and tells!) Trees Are Awesome. I normally love novelists writing science, I love novels of ideas, and I agree with his message. BUT, as in his other books, Powers always has this air of being Cleverer Than Anyone Else. The choppy present tense, jarringly florid similes, cardboard characters, absurd thriller aspects and hectoring tone made me resistant rather than sympathetic to the subject. "
That's a great takedown. Thanks for sharing!