Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

by Merlin Sheldrake
2020

Our Take

Entangled Life is an important book in our space - a best-selling and thought provoking book that tours us around the world of fungi.  It raises important questions about the nature of intelligence and provokes the mind with historical accounts of foragers and mushroom use. We highly recommend this book for anyone looking to increase their fungal literacy.

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When we think of fungi, we probably think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that support and sustain nearly all living systems. The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them. 

Sheldrake’s mind-bending journey into this hidden world ranges from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that sprawl for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that make all plant life possible, to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision. 

Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disaster. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how these extraordinary organisms – and our relationships with them – are changing our understanding of how life works. 

Entangled Life is now available in a stunning illustrated edition, abridged by the author, with over 100 spectacular full colour images.