Entangled Life
{{Short description|2020 non-fiction book by Merlin Sheldrake}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}{{Infobox book
| name = Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures
| orig title =
| translator =
| image = File:Entangled Life Merlin Sheldrake.jpg
| caption =
| author = Merlin Sheldrake
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| country = England
| language = English
| series =
| genre = Non fiction
| publisher = Random House
| release_date = 12 May 2020
| media_type = Print
| pages = 368
| isbn = 978-0-525-51031-4
| dewey =
| congress =
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| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| award = Wainwright Prize for writing on global conservation
}}
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures is a 2020 non-fiction book on mycology by British biologist Merlin Sheldrake. His first book,{{Cite news|last=Szalai|first=Jennifer|date=2020-05-27|title=Whether You're Making a Meal or Cleaning an Oil Spill, There's a Fungus for That|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/books/review-entangled-life-fungi-merlin-sheldrake.html|url-status=live|access-date=2020-09-02|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=25 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200825060251/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/books/review-entangled-life-fungi-merlin-sheldrake.html}}{{Cite news|last=Carey|first=John|author-link=John Carey (critic)|date=23 August 2020|title=Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake, review|language=en|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/entangled-life-how-fungi-make-our-worlds-change-our-minds-and-shape-our-futures-merlin-sheldrake-review-8b9f3k65q|url-status=live|access-date=2020-09-02|issn=0140-0460|archive-date=30 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830102925/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/entangled-life-how-fungi-make-our-worlds-change-our-minds-and-shape-our-futures-merlin-sheldrake-review-8b9f3k65q}}{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2 March 2020|title=Review of Entangled Life|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/merlin-sheldrake/entangled-life/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717173013/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/merlin-sheldrake/entangled-life/|archive-date=17 July 2020|access-date=|website=Kirkus Reviews}} it was published by Random House on 12 May 2020.{{cite magazine |last1=Hsu |first1=Hua |title=The Secret Lives of Fungi |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/the-secret-lives-of-fungi |access-date=31 August 2020 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=18 May 2020 |archive-date=8 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200908203234/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/the-secret-lives-of-fungi |url-status=live }} Among the several accolades the book and author have received was the 2021 Royal Society Prize for Science Books.
Author
Sheldrake is an expert in mycorrhizal fungi,{{cite magazine |last1=Macfarlane |first1=Robert |title=The Secrets of the Wood Wide Web |url=https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-secrets-of-the-wood-wide-web |access-date=31 August 2020 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=7 August 2016 |archive-date=21 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021223050/https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-secrets-of-the-wood-wide-web |url-status=live }} holds a PhD in tropical ecology from the University of Cambridge 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 he is on the advisory board of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN). His research is primarily in the fields of fungal biology and the history of Amazonian ethnobotany.{{cite news |last1=Harpignies |first1=JP |title=Interview with Merlin Sheldrake, Author of Entangled Life |url=https://bioneers.org/interview-merlin-sheldrake-entangled-life-ztvz2007/ |access-date=31 August 2020 |publisher=Bioneers |date=7 July 2020 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901173336/https://bioneers.org/interview-merlin-sheldrake-entangled-life-ztvz2007/ |url-status=live }} He is the son of Rupert Sheldrake, a New Age author, and Jill Purce, an author and therapist, and the brother of musician Cosmo Sheldrake.{{cite web |title=S02E12 Jill Purce on Overtone Chanting and Ancestral Healing |url=https://medicinepathpodcast.com/podcast/s02e12-jillpurce |publisher=Medicine Path Podcast |access-date=31 August 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923033448/https://medicinepathpodcast.com/podcast/s02e12-jillpurce |url-status=usurped }}
Summary
The book looks at fungi from a number of angles, including decomposition, fermentation, nutrient distribution, psilocybin production, the evolutionary role fungi play in plants, and the ways in which humans relate to the fungal kingdom.{{cite news |last1=Bone |first1=Eugenia |title='Entangled Life' Review: Digging Into Enigmatic Organisms |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/entangled-life-review-digging-into-enigmatic-organisms-11590184908 |access-date=31 August 2020 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=22 May 2020 |archive-date=17 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717130416/https://www.wsj.com/articles/entangled-life-review-digging-into-enigmatic-organisms-11590184908 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Li |first1=Gege |title=There is so much we don't yet know about fungi |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632850-900-there-is-so-much-we-dont-yet-know-about-fungi/ |access-date=31 August 2020 |publisher=New Scientist |date=3 June 2020 |archive-date=13 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913095031/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632850-900-there-is-so-much-we-dont-yet-know-about-fungi/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Cook |first1=Gareth |title=A Poetic, Mind-Bending Tour of the Fungal World |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-poetic-mind-bending-tour-of-the-fungal-world/ |access-date=31 August 2020 |publisher=Scientific American |date=24 June 2020 |archive-date=20 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820055002/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-poetic-mind-bending-tour-of-the-fungal-world/ |url-status=live }} It uses music and philosophy to illustrate its thesis,{{Cite news|last=Kerridge|first=Richard|date=2020-08-27|title=Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake review - from funghi to questions of identity|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/27/entangled-life-by-merlin-sheldrake-review-a-brilliant-door-opener-book|url-status=live|access-date=2020-09-02|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=31 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831103458/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/27/entangled-life-by-merlin-sheldrake-review-a-brilliant-door-opener-book}} and introduces readers to a number of central strands of research on mycology.{{Cite web|last=Dunn|first=Rob|authorlink=Robert Dunn (biologist)|date=2020-05-12|title=An ode to fungi reminds readers that the mundane can be sublime|url=https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2020/05/12/entangled-life/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717130413/https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2020/05/12/entangled-life/|archive-date=17 July 2020|access-date=2020-09-02|website=Science Books, et al.|language=en-US}} It is also a personal account of Sheldrake's experiences with fungi.
Reception
The book was published to largely positive reviews. According to Book Marks, the book received "rave" reviews based on 22 critic reviews with 16 being "rave" and 5 being "positive" and 1 being "mixed".{{Cite web |title=Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures|url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/entangled-life-how-fungi-make-our-worlds-change-our-minds-shape-our-futures/ |access-date=16 January 2024 |website=Book Marks}} In Books in the Media, a site that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a {{rating|4.53|5}} (4.53 out of 5) from the site which was based on 7 critic reviews. {{Cite web |title=Entangled Life Reviews |url=https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/entangled-life|access-date=11 July 2024 |website=Books in the Media|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927103748/https://booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com/reviews/entangled-life |archive-date=27 Sep 2021}}
Jennifer Szalai of The New York Times 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 called it "a gorgeous book of literary nature writing in the tradition of [Robert] Macfarlane and John Fowles, ripe with insight and erudition." Rachel Cooke of The Observer called it "an astonishing book that could alter our perceptions of fungi forever."{{cite news |last1=Cooke |first1=Rachel |title=The future is fungal: why the 'megascience' of mycology is on the rise |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/aug/23/the-future-is-fungal-why-the-megascience-of-mycology-is-on-the-rise |access-date=31 August 2020 |publisher=The Observer |date=23 August 2020 |archive-date=31 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831020824/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/aug/23/the-future-is-fungal-why-the-megascience-of-mycology-is-on-the-rise |url-status=live }} Richard Kerridge, reviewing the book in The Guardian, wrote that "when we look closely [at fungi], we meet large, unsettling questions... [Sheldrake] carries us easily into these questions with ebullience and precision."
Awards and honors
The book was named on Time magazine's list of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020{{cite news |title=The 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 |url=https://time.com/collection/must-read-books-2020/5904405/entangled-life/ |access-date=8 January 2021 |publisher=Time |date=11 November 2020}} and The Daily Telegraph{{'s}} list of the 50 Best Books of 2020,{{cite news |title=The 50 Best Books of 2020 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/50-best-books-2020/ |access-date=8 January 2021 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=1 December 2020}} and was chosen as one of the best nature books of 2020 by The Times.{{cite news |title=Best nature books of the year 2020 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/best-nature-books-of-the-year-2020-vp0wjzs5j |access-date=8 January 2021 |work=The Times |date=29 November 2020}} It was serialized on BBC Radio 4 as the book of the week,{{cite news |title=Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pm12 |access-date=8 January 2021 |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |date=23 November 2020}} and is a Sunday Times best-seller.{{cite web |title=Entangled Life |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1115381/entangled-life/9781847925190.html |website=penguin.co.uk |access-date=8 January 2021}} It won the Wainwright Prize in the Global Conservation Writing category,{{Cite web|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=2021-09-07|title=Wainwright prize for nature writing goes to James Rebanks for English Pastoral|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/07/wainwright-prize-for-nature-writing-goes-to-james-rebanks-for-english-pastoral|access-date=2021-09-07|website=The Guardian|language=en}} the Guild of Food Writers First Book Award,{{cite web |title=Awards 2021 Winners |url=http://www.gfw.co.uk/2021/awards-2021-winners/ |website=Guild of Food Writers |date=23 June 2021 |access-date=19 October 2021}} and the 2021 Royal Society Science Book Prize.This book prize appears variously with "Trivedi" and "Insight Investment" in its name, see other citations appearing.{{Cite news |last=Bayley |first=Sian |date=2021-11-29 |title=Sheldrake Wins Royal Society Science Book Prize with 'Illuminating' Fungi Book |work=The Bookseller |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/sheldrake-wins-royal-society-science-book-prize-illuminating-book-fungi-1291613# |url-status=live |access-date=2021-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130115628/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/sheldrake-wins-royal-society-science-book-prize-illuminating-book-fungi-1291613 |archive-date=2021-11-30}}{{cite AV media | people = Smith, Sir Adrian; Cox, Brian; and RS Book Prize shortlist authors | date = November 29, 2021 | title = Brian Cox presents the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize | work = YouTube.com | format = video, author panel discussion | url = https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/science-book-prize/books/2021/the-sleeping-beauties/ | access-date = 17 March 2025 | quote = | time = 55:31-56:20 | location = London, England | publisher = The Royal Society }}. It was shortlisted for the 2021 British Book Award for Non-Fiction: Narrative Book of the Year.{{cite web |title=Book of the Year - Non-fiction: Narrative |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/british-book-awards/non-fiction-narrative |website=The Bookseller |access-date=11 October 2021}}
Other media
Sheldrake presented the documentary Fungi: Web of Life, narrated by Björk.{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.fungimovie.com/ |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=Fungi |language=en}}
=Popular culture=
Entangled Life was an inspiration for the Spring 2021 couture collection by Iris van Herpen.{{cite news |last1=Borrelli-Persson |first1=Laird |title=Iris van Herpen: Spring 2021 Couture |url=https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2021-couture/iris-van-herpen |access-date=4 February 2021 |publisher=Vogue |date=25 January 2021}}{{relevance inline|date=March 2025}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Wikiquote|Merlin Sheldrake}}
- [https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10441294653-hyde-park-civilizace/223411058090311// Merlin Sheldrake in Hyde Park Civilization on ČT24 17.6.2023 (moderator Daniel Stach)]