Like pictures? It’s got ’em. Like variety? Got that too. There are enough pictures to fill a deck of cards or a weekly calendar, which is not accidental. The premise for the book was writing an article to accompany a photograph every week for a year. That could very well be a student assignment in an overly long writing course and in a sense it is. Jim Grey assigned himself the exercise to, as he says, “strengthen this muscle”. He is referring to the writing muscle which can surely benefit from practice just as much as a musician’s skill or an athlete’s strength.
Even though photographs are at the heart of Under the Catalpa Tree, the book’s subtitle mentions only “stories and essays”. I’m guessing that is at least partially because only the stories and essays needed to be newly created for the book. The photos already existed from Grey’s many years of photographing the world around him. He doesn’t explain how the photos were selected. I am sure it was not completely random but there is tremendous variety. They range in quality from slightly fuzzy black-and-white snapshots taken years ago with a yardsale camera to crisp color images taken with high-end gear and well-developed skills. Some photos are digital but film is the source of many of the images since Grey collects — and heavily uses — film cameras. Among the subjects are family, friends, cars, houses, nature, and an abbey in Ireland.
Of course, the subjects of those stories and essays are as varied as the subjects of the photos. Some essays are tightly tied to the photo they accompany and describe exactly how the photo came to be and the thoughts it invoked. For others, the photo is essentially a jumping-off point for some more or less unrelated observations. In both cases, the thoughts and observations tend to be rather insightful.
A detail I appreciate is laying out the book so that all images are alone on a left-hand page. That happens naturally when the text occupies a single page, which is common, or three pages, which is not. There are quite a few two-page essays where a blank is used to get things back in synch. Totally worth it, in my opinion. Those pages, by the way, utilize Amazon’s premium paper which has the photos looking their best.
With all the variety I have mentioned a couple of times, it is not easy to nail down a concise description of Under the Catalpa Tree. The best I can do is this: An illustrated set of glimpses of one Indiana resident’s memories and thoughts from the end of the last millennium and the beginning of this one.
Under the Catalpa Tree: And Other Stories and Essays, Jim Grey, Midnight Star Press (January 1, 2024), 8.25 x 8.25 inches, 156 pages, ISBN 979-8869992697
Available in paperback through Amazon or as a PDF direct from the author here.