“A neologism that describes a form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change. It is best described by the lived experience of negatively perceived environmental change. The word was coined by the philosopher Glenn Albrect…who describes it as ‘the homesickness you have when you are still at home.’” —Wikipedia
ENTER THE WORLD OF TREE FARMING through the essays of independent logger, Peter Pfeiffer. Solastalgia picks up where Pfeiffer’s first book, Hard Chance: Tree Farming in Troubled Times, left off, exploring the political and environmental challenges, dangers, sidelines, and satisfactions of an ancient and honorable tradition. Hard Chance was selected as Down East magazine’s Best Book of the Year for 2014. Looking both backward and to the future, Solastalgia seeks to offer practical advice on both the how and the why of woods work from the perspective of a well-traveled woodsman who lost his heart to the forests of northwestern Maine.
PETER PFEIFFER grew up in Maine, and after worldwide travels, returned to Somerset County and took up a lifelong career as an independent logger and Tree Farmer. He has won the Somerset County Tree Farmer of the Year award twice, and was named the Certified Logging Professional organization’s Logger of the Year in 2018. He has also farmed, run sawmills, built houses, and written numerous plays for the In Spite of Life Players theater company.
