Entangled Life

"After this book, nothing will seem the same again . . . beautifully written and illustrated . . . dazzling . . . reveals a world that's both more extraordinary and more delicate than could be imagined * Mail on Sunday * Riveting and surprising at every turn . . . A sensory as well as an intellectual pleasure * New Statesman * Wondrous . . . Humans should consider fungi among the greatest of earth's marvels * Time, Books of the Year * Mind-boggling . . . It's tempting . . . to see fungi as the biological model for a better world * Telegraph * Truly astounding . . . An engrossing, captivating journey * Spectator * Gorgeous, intelligent, utterly absorbing . . . it expands our world, and makes us look up from the page with renewed wonder * Irish Times * One of those rare books that can truly change the way you see the world around you . . . revelatory . . . astounding . . . and brimming with infectious joy -- HELEN MACDONALD, author of H is for Hawk A true masterpiece, a thrilling and fascinating insight into the living world . . . I hope and trust that it will become an instant classic -- GEORGE MONBIOT Blew my mind . . . Essential reading. Go and get swept up in a new world -- ANDREA WULF, author of The Invention of Nature Astonishing . . . it's impossible to finish this book without feeling awestruck -- ANDREW MOTION, TLS Books of the Year Delightful to read but also grand and dizzying in how thoroughly it recalibrates our understanding of the natural world -- ED YONG, author of An Immense World Sentence after sentence stopped me short. I ended it wonderstruck at the fungal world - the secrets of which modern science is only now beginning to fathom - and the earth-shaking, hierarchy-breaking implications of Sheldrake's argument. A remarkable work by a remarkable writer -- ROBERT MACFARLANE, author of Underland A revelation . . . Changes the way we need to look at life, the planet and ourselves -- ISABELLA TREE, author of Wilding Wonderfully written . . . surprising . . . The best science writing invites people to view the world around them in a new way, and Entangled Life is a perfect example -- BRIAN COX This is a book that, by virtue of the power of its writing, shifts your sense of the human . . . It will inspire a generation -- MICHAEL POLLAN (Bay Area Book Festival, 2020) I have been working on and reading and writing about fungi for a decade. And yet, nearly every page of this book contained either an observation so interesting or a turn of phrase so lovely that I was moved to slow down, stop, and reread . . . This book rocked me into remembering that nature, especially fungal nature, is big and encompassing and creative and destructive. It reminded me that fungi are, like the Universe, sublime -- Rob Dunn * Science * A magical journey deep into the roots of Nature by an expert storyteller . . . a must-read for citizen scientists hoping to make a positive difference on this sacred planet we share -- PAUL STAMETS, author of Mycelium Running Reading this book, I felt surrounded by a web of wonder. The natural world is more fantastic than any fantasy, so long as you have the means to perceive it. This book provides the means -- JARON LANIER, author of Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now You may never look at fungi in the same way . . . an eye-opening exploration of this mysterious taxonomic kingdom . . . a journey into an untapped world. It is both a wonderful collection of fungal feats . . and a personal account of Sheldrake's experiences with these miraculous organisms * New Scientist * Brilliant . . . entrancing . . . when we look closely [at fungi], we meet large, unsettling questions . . . Merlin Sheldrake . . . carries us easily into these questions with ebullience and precision . . . challenging some of our deepest assumptions * Guardian * A joy . . . a captivating trip into the weird and wonderful mycorrhizal world around us - and inside us . . . full of startling revelations * Daily Mail * The oddest and most uplifting book . . . It is, to say the least, rare to find such a vast area of life on Earth - fungi - about which one knows almost nothing, and which gives promise of being so important to human life during our next century -- ANDREW MARR * New Statesman Books of the Year * If you had told me a book about fungi would be both enthralling and completely mind-blowing, I wouldn't have believed you. And yet. Dazzlingly good -- INDIA KNIGHT, Sunday Times It is impossible to put this book down. Entangled Life provides a window into the mind-boggling biology and fascinating cultures surrounding fungal life, as well as fungi’s innumerable uses in materials, medicine and ecology. Sheldrake asks us to consider a life-form that is radically alien to ours, yet vibrant and lively underfoot -- HANS ULRICH OBRIST A triumph and a thing of vast beauty -- TOM HODGKINSON, The Idler Fungi are everywhere, and Merlin Sheldrake is an ideal guide to their mysteries. He's passionate, deeply knowledgeable and a wonderful writer -- ELIZABETH KOLBERT, author of Under A White Sky Deeply engaging and constantly surprising . . . the magic of mushrooms is not merely mind-expanding . . . it might expand the very concept of mind -- PHILIP BALL * Prospect * As hard to put down as a thrilling detective novel, and one of the best works of popular science writing that I have enjoyed in years -- DENNIS MCKENNA, author (with Terence McKenna) of Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower’s Guide A fascinating insight into the world beneath our feet and the ""wood-wide web"" of fungi * The Times, *Summer Reads of 2023* *"