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  • Entangled Life

  • How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
  • Written by: Merlin Sheldrake
  • Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
  • Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (371 ratings)

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Entangled Life

Written by: Merlin Sheldrake
Narrated by: Merlin Sheldrake
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Publisher's Summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “brilliant [and] entrancing” (The Guardian) journey into the hidden lives of fungi—the great connectors of the living world—and their astonishing and intimate roles in human life, with the power to heal our bodies, expand our minds, and help us address our most urgent environmental problems.

“Grand and dizzying in how thoroughly it recalibrates our understanding of the natural world.”—Ed Yong, author of An Immense World

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—Time, BBC Science Focus, The Daily Mail, Geographical, The Times, The Telegraph, New Statesman, London Evening Standard, Science Friday

When we think of fungi, we likely 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 supports and sustains nearly all living systems. Fungi provide a key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel, and behave.

In the first edition of this mind-bending book, Sheldrake introduced us to this mysterious but massively diverse kingdom of life. This exquisitely designed volume, abridged from the original, features more than one hundred full-color images that bring the spectacular variety, strangeness, and beauty of fungi to life as never before.

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 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.

Winner of the Wainwright Prize, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, and the Guild of Food Writers Award • Shortlisted for the British Book Award • Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize

©2020 Merlin Sheldrake (P)2020 Random House Audio

What the critics say

“Sheldrake is admirably humble, knowing that there is much more to be discovered about the fungal web all around us. He has a slightly husky, convincingly precise voice, and his mental and physical involvement in his subject is brought out by his thoughtful, amused narration and allusive, often almost poetic cast of mind.”—Christina Hardyment, The Times, Audiobook of the Week

“I fell in love with this book. Merlin is a scientist with the imagination of a poet and a beautiful writer. . . . This is a book that, by virtue of the power of its writing, shifts your sense of the human. . . . It will inspire a generation to enter mycology.”—Michael Pollan (Bay Area Book Festival, 2020)

“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

What listeners say about Entangled Life

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  • Zac
  • 2020-12-13

Very cool

Mention of Deleuze plus psychedelics. Very cool! I recommend people watch Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia for more on drug related information.

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6 people found this helpful

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Great listen

I really enjoyed this listen because of the interesting scientific facts but the stories that went along with them were stimulating and easy to follow. Also the writer's voice is really relaxing. I listened to this while painting a collection of mushrooms, definitely got me in the zone :)

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3 people found this helpful

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Fungi established ecosystems but nobody knows

Sheldrake is brilliant and passionate about fungi and it conveys beautifully in this book. I began getting interested in fungi from other podcasts but this book really opened my eyes to just how pivotal fungi were, and still are, in the health of our soils, waterways, and entire ecosystems. For such an enormous kingdom of life to historically be denounced or ignored is a travesty, given the data we have that overwhelmingly points to fungi having the role of establishing ecosystems, when plantlife was only just establishing on land, and building subterranean networks of mycelium that links plants, delivers nutrients, and ultimately encourages the forward evolution of other species. We owe immense gratitude to this misunderstood kingdom, and if you are a junior looking for a major in college, please look in to mycology. I'm certainly doing so myself!

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Just Fantastic!

Merlin Sheldrake is fantastic in his capacity to educate, entertain and engage. Well done Merlin!

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Fascinating!

Very well written book with the perfect narrator, exactly what I was hoping for.

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Incredible

One of the most fascinating reads/listens ever. Truly a book that can/will change the way you see the world.

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Wonderful

An absolutely fabulous dance through the fibres of life that leaves a trail of wonder,a moment of enlightenment and a fascination with the largely unseen.

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fantastic

Highly recommended reading or listening. I will likely buy the book as well. Very well done on all fronts.

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Awesome And Calming

Great book for those looking to satisfy their mycological fix. The author does a great job of reading his work, its informing and meditative.

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Absolutely breathtaking

I have never been a reader of non-fiction, but Sheldrake has brought me to the other side. This is not only an incredible work of science, but also of littérature. One of the best books I’ve ever read.

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