In this companion volume to "Home Before Dark", Susan Cheever once again gives an insider's glimpse into her famous family, whose secrets and eccentricity are only paralleled by their genius and successes.

Includes a reader's guide and an author's note.

The tropical botanist shares the story of her adventues doing pioneering ecological research in forest canopies of Australia, Africa, Belize, and the United States.

A stunning array of rustic and charming treehouses from around the world for inspiration and for those who fantasize about getting away from it all. Whether it’s a yearning to escape the stress of day-to-day existence, or a desire to live more sustainably and to get closer to nature, more and more people are finding reasons to go off-grid, high above the ground. Today’s treehouses have evolved into shapes and sizes that nobody could ever have dreamed of. Philip Jodidio takes us on an exciting international tour of more than 36 structures, revealing how they are designed, built, and appreciated in a wide array of cultures and settings. Each treehouse is presented with breathtaking exterior and interior photography, giving readers an in-depth glimpse of this rapidly evolving symbiosis between nature and shelter, indoor and outdoor, and rustic and polished, in a definitive examination of tree-house living. For people interested in eco-friendly living, this book presents the most innovative inter-pretations of the genre, from a house nestled in the tree trunks of Norway to a hexagon-shaped shelter in Mystic, Connecticut.

In this compelling companion volume to her acclaimed memoir Home Before Dark, Susan Cheever once again gives readers a revealing look into her famous family, whose secrets and eccentricities parallel their genius and successes. Set against the backdrop of Treetops, the New Hampshire family retreat where the Cheevers still summer, and going back several generations, this powerful remembrance focuses on Susan Cheever's mother's family, and includes portraits of her great-grandfather, Thomas Watson, who invented the telephone with Alexander Graham Bell, and her grandfather Milton Winternitz, a brilliant doctor who built Yale Medical School. And of course there is her beloved and talented father John Cheever, the accomplished author who became one of the most well-known writers of the century, often using his family as material. Perhaps most riveting about Susan Cheever's second biographical masterpiece is its exploration of the lives of the Cheever women. At once a unique family portrait and the tale of every family, Treetops draws us effortlessly into a fascinating yet endearingly familiar world.

Drawn to the mysteries of tropical rain forests and fascinated by life in the treetops, Meg Lowman has pursued a life of scientific exploration while raising her two sons, Edward and James Burgess. This book recounts their family adventures in remote parts of the world (Samoa, West Africa, Peru, Panama, India, Biosphere 2, and others), from the perspectives of both kids and parent. Together they explore tropical rain forests, encounter anacondas and piranhas, eat crickets as hors d’oeuvres, discover new species, and nurture a family ethic for conservation. The chapters of the book focus on field biology questions, the canopy access methods developed to answer the questions, and conservation or education components of each expedition. Lowman enumerates the challenges and joys of juggling parenthood and career, and the children reflect on how their mom’s work has affected their lives. A rollicking, inspiring book, It’s a Jungle Up There is an upbeat portrayal of how a parent’s career can imprint children, and how children in turn can influence the success and trajectory of their parent’s career.