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The Mushroom at the End of the World
On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins
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Check link for latest rating. ( 7,564 ratings, 1,072 reviews)
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Description
One of Times Higher Education's Best Books of 2015
Winner of the 2016 Gregory Bateson Prize, The Society for Cultural Anthropology
One of Flavorwire's 10 Best Books by Academic Publishers in 2015
Winner of the 2016 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing, Society for Humanistic Anthropology
One of Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Books of 2015 in Business and Economics
One of Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Books of 2015 in Science
Finalist for the 2016 Northern California Book Awards in General Nonfiction, Northern California Book Reviewers
Matsutake is the most valuable mushroom in the worldโand a weed that grows in human-disturbed forests across the Northern Hemisphere. Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing's account of these sought-after fungi offers insights into areas far beyond just mushrooms and addresses a crucial question: What manages to live in the ruins we have made?
The Mushroom at the End of the World explores the unexpected corners of matsutake commerce, where we encounter Japanese gourmets, capitalist traders, Hmong jungle fighters, Finnish nature guides, and more. These companions lead us into fungal ecologies and forest histories to better understand the promise of cohabitation in a time of massive human devastation.
The Mushroom at the End of the World delves into the relationship between capitalist destruction and collaborative survival within multispecies landscapes, the prerequisite for continuing life on earth.
"A poetic and remarkably fertile exploration of the relationship between human beings and the natural environment." โ 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." โ 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." โ 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." โ P. D. Smith, The Guardian
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing has been highly praised for its innovative approach to examining the intersections of ecology, economy, and culture through the lens of the matsutake mushroom. The book is celebrated for its deep insights into capitalism's impact, the resilience of nature, and the adaptability of human societies. Reviews highlight its poetic prose, originality, and the way it challenges the traditional narratives about modernity and economic value, offering a fresh perspective on living in precarious times.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780691220550
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 08 June 2021
Country: United States
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Illustration: 29 halftones.
Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Width: 133.0mm
Height: 203.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 352
Collections
About the Author
Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing is professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection and In the Realm of the Diamond Queen: Marginality in an Out-of-the-Way Place (both Princeton).
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