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Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins
Binding: Paperback
Pub Date: June 08, 2021
Through close, indeed loving, attention to a certain fascinating mushroom, the matsutake, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing discusses how the whole immense crisis of ecology came about and why it continues. In a situation where urgency and enormity can overwhelm the mind, she gives us a real way to think about it. --Ursula K. Le Guin
Humanity has never seemed so finely calibrated and rationalized: the seamless journey of a very expensive mushroom from nature to a dinner plate tells this story. --Hua Hsu, New Yorker
A poetic and remarkably fertile exploration of the relationship between human beings and the natural environment. --Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian
Unusually rewarding. . . . Consistently fascinating. --Kirkus Reviews
Commendation Quotes:
A poetic and remarkably fertile exploration of the relationship between human beings and the natural environment. --Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian
Through close, indeed loving, attention to a certain fascinating mushroom, the matsutake, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing discusses how the whole immense crisis of ecology came about and why it continues. In a situation where urgency and enormity can overwhelm the mind, she gives us a real way to think about it. --Ursula K. Le Guin
Humanity has never seemed so finely calibrated and rationalized: the seamless journey of a very expensive mushroom from nature to a dinner plate tells this story. --Hua Hsu, New Yorker
Highly original. . . . This book brilliantly turns the commerce and ecology of this most rare mushroom into a modern parable of post-industrial survival and environmental renewal. --P. D. Smith, The Guardian
Commendation Quotes:
Scientists and artists know that the way to handle an immense topic is often through close attention to a small aspect of it, revealing the whole through the part. In the shape of a finch's beak we can see all of evolution. So through close, indeed loving, attention to a certain fascinating mushroom, the matsutake, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing discusses how the whole immense crisis of ecology came about and why it continues. Critical of simplistic reductionism, she offers clear analysis, and in place of panicked reaction considers possibilities of rational, humane, resourceful behavior. In a situation where urgency and enormity can overwhelm the mind, she gives us a real way to think about it. I'm very grateful to have this book as a guide through the coming years. --Ursula K. Le Guin
If we must survive in the 'ruins of capitalism'--what some call the Anthropocene--we need an example of how totally unexpected connections can be made between the economy, culture, biology, and survival strategies. In this book, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing offers a marvelous example with the unlikely case of a globalized mushroom. --Bruno Latour, author of An Inquiry into Modes of Existence
This is a thoughtful, insightful, and nuanced exploration of the relationships between people and landscapes, landscapes and mushrooms, mushrooms and people. Anthropologists, historians, ecologists, and mushroom lovers alike will appreciate the depth and sensitivity with which Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing follows this modern global commodity chain, from the forests of North America and China to the auction markets of Japan. --David Arora, author of Mushrooms Demystified
It isn't often that one discovers a book that is at once scholarly in the best sense and written with the flowing prose of a well-crafted novel. Speaking to issues of major concern, The Mushroom at the End of the World is a brilliant work, superbly conceived, and a delight to read. --Marilyn Strathern, emeritus professor of social anthropology, University of Cambridge
This book uses the matsutake mushroom as a lens through which to examine contemporary environmental history, global commodity production, and science. With soaring prose, penetrating intellect, and sustained creativity and originality, it links disparate topics in new and profound ways. Spanning an astonishing number of fields, this work is destined to be a classic. --Michael R. Dove, Yale University
Humanity has never seemed so finely calibrated and rationalized: the seamless journey of a very expensive mushroom from nature to a dinner plate tells this story. --Hua Hsu, New Yorker
A poetic and remarkably fertile exploration of the relationship between human beings and the natural environment. --Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian
Unusually rewarding. . . . Consistently fascinating. --Kirkus Reviews
Commendation Quotes:
A poetic and remarkably fertile exploration of the relationship between human beings and the natural environment. --Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian
Through close, indeed loving, attention to a certain fascinating mushroom, the matsutake, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing discusses how the whole immense crisis of ecology came about and why it continues. In a situation where urgency and enormity can overwhelm the mind, she gives us a real way to think about it. --Ursula K. Le Guin
Humanity has never seemed so finely calibrated and rationalized: the seamless journey of a very expensive mushroom from nature to a dinner plate tells this story. --Hua Hsu, New Yorker
Highly original. . . . This book brilliantly turns the commerce and ecology of this most rare mushroom into a modern parable of post-industrial survival and environmental renewal. --P. D. Smith, The Guardian
Commendation Quotes:
Scientists and artists know that the way to handle an immense topic is often through close attention to a small aspect of it, revealing the whole through the part. In the shape of a finch's beak we can see all of evolution. So through close, indeed loving, attention to a certain fascinating mushroom, the matsutake, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing discusses how the whole immense crisis of ecology came about and why it continues. Critical of simplistic reductionism, she offers clear analysis, and in place of panicked reaction considers possibilities of rational, humane, resourceful behavior. In a situation where urgency and enormity can overwhelm the mind, she gives us a real way to think about it. I'm very grateful to have this book as a guide through the coming years. --Ursula K. Le Guin
If we must survive in the 'ruins of capitalism'--what some call the Anthropocene--we need an example of how totally unexpected connections can be made between the economy, culture, biology, and survival strategies. In this book, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing offers a marvelous example with the unlikely case of a globalized mushroom. --Bruno Latour, author of An Inquiry into Modes of Existence
This is a thoughtful, insightful, and nuanced exploration of the relationships between people and landscapes, landscapes and mushrooms, mushrooms and people. Anthropologists, historians, ecologists, and mushroom lovers alike will appreciate the depth and sensitivity with which Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing follows this modern global commodity chain, from the forests of North America and China to the auction markets of Japan. --David Arora, author of Mushrooms Demystified
It isn't often that one discovers a book that is at once scholarly in the best sense and written with the flowing prose of a well-crafted novel. Speaking to issues of major concern, The Mushroom at the End of the World is a brilliant work, superbly conceived, and a delight to read. --Marilyn Strathern, emeritus professor of social anthropology, University of Cambridge
This book uses the matsutake mushroom as a lens through which to examine contemporary environmental history, global commodity production, and science. With soaring prose, penetrating intellect, and sustained creativity and originality, it links disparate topics in new and profound ways. Spanning an astonishing number of fields, this work is destined to be a classic. --Michael R. Dove, Yale University