After the election I'm going to . . .

Dys in the tree? Now I know where Italo Calvino's Baron has been hiding all these years in the trees living in one of my favorite books.

The Baron in the Trees is one of the most enchanting novels ever written. When the Baron decides to take up his arboreal existence in the trees, one cannot help but believe he is making the right decision. Calvino fleshes out the Baron into one of the most believable characters in literature. This is an amazing feat considering the farcical lifestyle the Baron decides to adopt. Calvino takes the opportunity to create a world at once steeped in history, philosophy and politics while at the same time illustrating the everyday existence and lives of those around him. The cat skin hat, the exiles in the trees, the Napoleonic troops all brought to life with amazing detail. Memory, love and history all combine and swirl throughout the story. While there is nothing exactly magical or out of this world about this book, it is one of the best examples of magical realism I have read.