Daniel Mason, North Woods (2023)

North Woods by Daniel Mason

Published: 2023
Acquired: June 2025
Read: June 2026

Last summer, I participated in our local library's summer reading program; I got a pick of several books as a prize for participating, and I semi-arbitrarily picked this one knowing nothing about it.

North Woods chronicles the happenings in a forest in New England, from the time of the Puritans up to the present day. It's more of a story cycle than a novel, alternating stories told by a narrator and ones that are found documents like diaries or magazine articles. Over time, you realize there are links between the stories.

It's the kind of book I find more intellectually admirable than emotionally enjoyable. Well written, but in an austere, this-guy-went-to-an-MFA-program kind of way (I have no idea if he did or not, by the way). Some strong individual stories, some forgettable ones. Unfortunately, I think one wants a story cycle to be greater than the sum of its parts and this one is probably less. I don't have any real complaints about it, but I struggle to imagine myself recommending it to someone either.