"A fine novel." THE BOSTON HERALD Photographer, writer, and composer, Gordon Parks has written a moving, true-to-life novel of growing up as a black man in this country in this century. Hailed by critics and readers alike, THE LEARNING TREE tells the extraordinary journey of a family as they struggle to understand the world around them and leave their mark a world that is better for their having been in it. "Gordon Parks has made a real world...with characters as lusty, humorous, tragic and impelling as those of Faulkner, Williams or Steinbeck". Bangor Daily News "A fine novel." THE BOSTON HERALD Photographer, writer, and composer, Gordon Parks has written a moving, true-to-life novel of growing up as a black man in this country in this century. Hailed by critics and readers alike, THE LEARNING TREE tells the extraordinary journey of a family as they struggle to understand the world around them and leave their mark a world that is better for their having been in it. novel." THE BOSTON HERALD Photographer, writer, and composer, Gordon Parks has written a moving, true-to-life novel of growing up as a black man in this country in this century. Hailed by critics and readers alike, THE LEARNING TREE tells the extraordinary journey of a family as they struggle to understand the world around them and leave their mark a world that is better for their having been in it. Gordon Parks (1912–2006) was the author of numerous books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and photography, including The Learning Tree and A Choice of Weapons . He received a plethora of honorary degrees and awards, including the National Medal of Arts. He was also a film director and composer, and wrote the music and libretto for Martin, a ballet honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Gordon Parks, The Learning Tree, paperback