Objective
'Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures' is a #book by Merlin Sheldrake that intricately weaves together science and storytelling to illuminate the hidden world of fungi. While mushrooms are the most visible manifestation, serving as fruiting bodies akin to apples on a tree, the majority of fungal life exists out of sight. This kingdom of organisms is vast and foundational, supporting and sustaining nearly all terrestrial life. In Entangled Life, Sheldrake explores fungi from yeast and psychedelics to the immense mycelial networks—sometimes stretching for miles underground—that connect plants through the so-called “Wood Wide Web,” and even examines species that manipulate insect behavior with remarkable precision. Fungi challenge conventional ideas of individuality and intelligence, acting as metabolic innovators and ecological architects. By examining fungi on their own terms, Sheldrake reveals how our relationships with these organisms are reshaping our understanding of life’s interconnectedness.
In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective. Sheldrake’s vivid exploration takes us from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that range for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that link plants together in complex networks known as the “Wood Wide Web,” to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision.
Fungi throw our concepts of individuality and even intelligence into question. They are metabolic masters, earth makers, and key players in most of life’s processes. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disasters. 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.
Subjective
This is one of my favorite creative non-fiction books, in part because its introduction is utterly enchanting—an invitation to see the world anew. I first encountered Entangled Life during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it quickly became a retreat for my imagination, inspiring new avenues of curiosity (and even some literal exploration in the kitchen). There’s a playfulness in how Sheldrake reveals the fungal perspective; it felt both grounding and expansive in a time when I needed both. I can’t recommend the audiobook enough—his narration brings the subject matter to life in a way that’s both intimate and invigorating.
"The problem was that we did not know who we meant when we said We." ~ Adrian Rich
Reflections
“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 The Sixth Extinction
“I was completely unprepared for Sheldrake’s book. It rolled me over like a tsunami, leaving the landscape rearranged but all the more beautiful.”~ Nicholas Humphrey, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the London School of Economics and author of A History of the Mind and Soul Dust
“Sheldrake’s charm and curiosity make for a book that is delightful to read but also grand and dizzying in how thoroughly it recalibrates our understanding of the natural world and the often overlooked organisms within it.” ~ Ed Yong, author of I Contain Multitudes
Contexts
#entangled-life (this is the Root Memo)
#merlin-sheldrake (See: Merlin Sheldrake)
#mycelium
#recommended-book