''Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures'' is a 2020 non-fiction book on

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogen ...

by British

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize ...

Merlin Sheldrake. His first book, it was published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

on 12 May 2020.

Summary

The book looks at

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately fr ...

from a number of angles, including decomposition, fermentation, nutrient distribution,

psilocybin Psilocybin ( , ) is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of fungi. The most potent are members of the genus ''Psilocybe'', such as '' P. azurescens'', '' P. semilanceata'', and '' P.&nbs ...

production, the evolutionary role fungi play in plants, and the ways in which humans relate to the fungal kingdom. It uses music and philosophy to illustrate its thesis, and introduces readers to a number of central strands of research on mycology. It is also a personal account of Sheldrake's experiences with fungi. Sheldrake is an expert in

mycorrhizal fungi A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the pla ...

, holds a PhD in tropical ecology from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama, where he was a predoctoral research fellow of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and his research is primarily in the fields of fungal biology and the history of Amazonian

ethnobotany Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

. He is the son of

Rupert Sheldrake Alfred Rupert Sheldrake (born 28 June 1942) is an English author and parapsychology researcher who proposed the concept of morphic resonance, a conjecture which lacks mainstream acceptance and has been criticized as pseudoscience. He has wor ...

, a biologist, and

Jill Purce Jill Purce (born 1947) is a British voice teacher, Family Constellations therapist, and author. In the 1970s, Purce developed a new way of working with the voice, introducing the teaching of group overtone chanting, producing a single note whils ...

, an author and therapist, and the brother of musician

Cosmo Sheldrake Cosmo Christopher Sheldrake is an English musician, composer, and producer. He is the son of parapsychologist Rupert Sheldrake and voice teacher Jill Purce, and the brother of biologist Merlin Sheldrake. He released his first single, "The Mo ...

Reception

The book was published to largely positive reviews. Jennifer Szalai of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the book an "ebullient and ambitious exploration" of fungi, adding, "reading it left me not just moved but altered, eager to disseminate its message of what fungi can do." Eugenia Bone of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' called it "a gorgeous book of literary

nature writing Nature writing is nonfiction or fiction prose or poetry about the natural environment. Nature writing encompasses a wide variety of works, ranging from those that place primary emphasis on natural history facts (such as field guides) to those in w ...

in the tradition of obertMacfarlane and John Fowles, ripe with insight and erudition."

Rachel Cooke Rachel Cooke (born 1969) is a British journalist and writer. Early life Cooke was born in Sheffield, and is the daughter of a university lecturer. She went to school in Jaffa, Israel, until she was 11, before returning to Sheffield, and atten ...

of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' called it "an astonishing book that could alter our perceptions of fungi forever." Richard Kerridge, reviewing the book in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', wrote that "when we look closely t fungi we meet large, unsettling questions... heldrakecarries us easily into these questions with ebullience and precision." The book was named on ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine's list of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020, and ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' list of the 50 Best Books of 2020, and was chosen as one of the best nature books of 2020 by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

''. It was serialized on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

as the book of the week, and is a ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' best-seller. It won the

Wainwright Prize The Wainwright Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of general outdoors, nature and UK-based travel writing. In 2020 it was split into the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing and the Wainwright Prize for writing on globa ...

in the Global Conservation Writing category'','' the Guild of Food Writers First Book Award, and the 2021 Royal Society Science Books Prize. It was shortlisted for the 2021 British Book Award for Non-Fiction: Narrative Book of the Year. ''Entangled Life'' was an inspiration for the Spring 2021 couture collection by

Iris van Herpen Iris van Herpen (born June 5, 1984) is a Dutch fashion designer known for fusing technology with traditional haute couture craftsmanship. Van Herpen opened her own label ''Iris van Herpen'' in 2007. In 2011, the Dutch designer became a guest-mem ...

. In a season 2 episode of the television show ''

Ted Lasso ''Ted Lasso'' is an American sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character of the same name that Sudeikis first portrayed in a series of promos for NB ...

'', Coach Beard is reading ''Entangled Life''.

References

External links

{{Wikiquote, Merlin Sheldrake Mycology 2020 non-fiction books Random House books Mycological literature