The Mushroom at the End of the World

On The Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins

What a rare mushroom can teach us about sustaining life on a fragile planet

Matsutake is the most valuable mushroom in the world—and a weed that grows in human-disturbed forests across the northern hemisphere. Through its ability to nurture trees, matsutake helps forests to grow in daunting places. It is also an edible delicacy in Japan, where it sometimes commands astronomical prices. In all its contradictions, matsutake offers insights into areas far beyond just mushrooms and addresses a crucial question: what manages to live in the ruins we have …

331 Seiten

Sprache: English

Am 4. April 2015 von Princeton University Press veröffentlicht.

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ISBN:
978-0-691-16275-1
ISBN kopiert!
OCLC-Nummer:
894777646
Goodreads:
25510906

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Themen
  • Environmental degradation
  • Human ecology
  • Economic development
  • Environmental aspects

Rezensionen

Immaginario affascinante, efficacia limitata

Un viaggio tra i popoli e le culture sviluppatisi intorno ai matsutake, dei funghi che prosperano tra le rovine umane. Un immaginario estremamente affascinante che però si contrappone a un costante e inesorabile calo di incisività.

Resta tremendamente affascinante, seppur già vista in testi più incisivi, la critica alla visione individualista della biologia che ha dominato la storia recente.

There Must Be Something I'm Not Getting

Because of how much I see this book praised in lefty circles, I thought I would love it when I checked it out from the library. But as the title says, there must be something that I'm not getting about this book, because it really didn't click with me. Of course the mushroom imagery and contemplation on living a life in the ruins of capitalism were exquisite, but there were a few niggling things that bothered me. Firstly, I was not too convinced by the author's claim of "We can learn to live in the ruins of capitalism if we follow the example of people who either are or are descended from people who fought explicitly to uphold capitalism and imperial exploitation of their own countries, and people who claim what they're doing is capitalism in its purest form!" Undoubtedly, these people are living a pericapitalist existence to borrow the …

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