Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
|
Robin Wall Kimmerer
March 2003. 6 x 9 inches. 176 pages. Line drawings. Index
ISBN 0-87071-499-6. Paperback, $18.95.
Table
of Contents
Winner of the 2005 John Burroughs Medal Award for Natural History Writing
|
Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but
largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a
beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites
readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.
In this series of linked personal essays, Robin Wall Kimmerer leads general
readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how
their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings.
Kimmerer explains the biology of mosses clearly and artfully, while at the
same time reflecting on what these fascinating organisms have to teach us.
Drawing on her diverse experiences as a scientist, mother, teacher, and
writer of Native American heritage, Kimmerer explains the stories of mosses
in scientific terms as well as in the framework of indigenous ways of
knowing. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of
mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.
"Something I took for granted suddenly has come alive, because I have been
given its story. After reading this book, I took a magnifying glass outside
and pored over tree trunks. I have seen Robin Kimmerer's miniature landscape
for myself. Yet, this is so much more than a book about mosses. This is a
Native American woman speaking. This is a mother's story. This is science
revealed through the human psyche. Robin Kimmerer is a scientist who
combines empiricism with all other forms of knowing. Hers is a spectacularly
different view of the world, and her true voice needs to be heard."
--Janisse Ray, author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood
and Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home
About the Author
Robin Wall Kimmerer is an Associate Professor on the faculty of
Environmental and Forest Biology at the State University of New York College
of Environmental Science and Forestry. She has published numerous articles
on the biology and ecology of mosses, as well as articles on traditional
Native American knowledge of the natural world.
Gathering Moss is her first book.
"...[a] gem of a book."
--
Library Journal
"Robin Kimmerer . . . has written as good a book as you will find on a natural
history subject. You will want to go outside and get on your knees with a hand
lens and begin to probe this Lilliputian world she describes so beautifully."
--
Seattle Times
"It takes a certain kind of courage and passion to write an entire book on mosses . . .
Kimmerer admirably rises to the challenge in her first book, Gathering Moss, opening
up a world of rich surprises in the process. What we learn about mosses is breathtaking."
--
Orion
"An interesting account, both personal and exact, of an area of the vegetable kingdom
that I often do not even notice . . . [a] passionate emphasis on something often most successfully
appreciated by viewing through a microscope."
--Jamaica Kincaid,
The New York Times Book Review
"Bryologist Robin Wall Kimmerer may well be the next Annie Dillard. She is a wonderful wordsmith
as well as a scientist, teacher, mother, and daughter of the Potawatomi tribe. Kimmerer
brings all these levels of perception to the miniature landscapes she describes in this collection of essays."
--
The Olympian
Back to top of page
Secure online ordering form (Orders go to our distributor - The University of Arizona Press). For a complete listing of available books, check out our catalog of books in print.
