Book #7: The Mushroom at the End of the World
Imagining life after capitalism through the stories of the matsutake mushroom.
Hi friends! I’m Jess and this is Book Club for the Planet, an online community for us to read about the climate crisis in community.
Meeting for this book is THIS Sunday, September 5 at 1 pm EST.
As I’ve been reading the mycelium-like threads of story weaving through Dr. Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing’s The Mushroom at the End of the World, the narrative has taken me to both external and internal landscapes I didn’t foresee—Oregon forests and precarious supply chains, and also my own relationship to others and to the vulnerability of self and place. To be honest, I expected a lot more about mushrooms, but this is no Entangled Life, How to Change Your Mind, or Fantastic Fungi (although I recommend all three if you’re hungering for more!). This is a deep dive into understanding fungal networks as kin and teachers as we find ways to collectively navigate our increasingly precarious worlds and home.
A personal aside, here. I hope you’re all as well as can be hoped and staying safe in the fires, hurricanes, and shifting sands that we’re all living through. For those who found me and this Substack from my Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve taken a back seat from posting. I’m well (thank you for those of you who have checked in!) and have been practicing setting, deconstructing, and reimagining new boundaries around my interaction with digital and social media spaces. I’m still here and invested in holding space for this incredible book club community and whatever experiences and emotions each of us bring to the table.
As for our book club meet-ups, everyone is welcome to join, whether you’ve finished the book or not, and to engage in whatever way feels right to you. Maybe you’re coming to connect with others and work through these questions with a sympathetic sounding board, or maybe you’re coming to learn in a listen-only mode. You are welcome here! Our meetings last for about 90 minutes, but it’s totally ok to come for the first 45 minutes or an hour if that works for you.
For those who are new to our meetings, here’s how it works:
A few days before our meeting (actually, I did this today, right before writing this Substack post!), I send out a separate Mailchimp newsletter with a Zoom registration link. Please register so I can plan appropriately for the size of our expected group. If you have unsubscribed to that newsletter (life happens and my email inbox perpetually has over 5,000 unread emails in it, so I get it!), please also make sure to unsubscribe to this Substack as well so I don’t accidentally re-subscribe you to the Mailchimp newsletter when I’m updating the lists every other month.
That’s it, for now! Happy reading!