# The Overstory by Richard Powers

3 Hacker News commenters recommended The Overstory by Richard Powers and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a novel about trees communicating, which won the Pulitzer Prize; one critic found it arrogant and moralizing.

## Why people recommend it

- Won the Pulitzer Prize (1 comments): "the Overstory by Richard Powers won the Pullitzer and is about trees communicating" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48039840))
- Novel about trees communicating (1 comments): "the Overstory by Richard Powers won the Pullitzer and is about trees communicating" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48039840))
- Described as rad fiction (1 comments): "The Overstory is rad fiction." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49900299))

## What people warn about

- Arrogant and moralizing ending (1 comments): "an arrogant pile of trash that culminates in the moral" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47062307))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crime-and-punishment.md): 39 recommend
- [The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brothers-karamazov.md): 28 recommend
- [Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace](https://hackerapproved.com/p/infinite-jest.md): 26 recommend
- [The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://hackerapproved.com/p/great-gatsby.md): 24 recommend
- [Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atlas-shrugged.md): 23 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/039335668X?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780393356687) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Overstory by Richard Powers", https://hackerapproved.com/p/overstory/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).