- Published: 28 September 2021
- ISBN: 9781784708276
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 368
- RRP: $24.99
Entangled Life
How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures
















- Published: 28 September 2021
- ISBN: 9781784708276
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 368
- RRP: $24.99
A dazzling, vibrant, vision-changing book. Sentence after sentence stopped me short. I ended it wonderstruck at the fungal world - the secrets of which modern science is only now beginning to fathom - and the earth-shaking, hierarchy-breaking implications of Sheldrake's argument. A remarkable work by a remarkable writer
ROBERT MACFARLANE, author of Underland
It is impossible to put this book down. Entangled Life provides a window into the mind-boggling biology and fascinating cultures surrounding fungal life, as well as fungi's innumerable uses in materials, medicine and ecology. Sheldrake asks us to consider a life-form that is radically alien to ours, yet vibrant and lively underfoot
HANS ULRICH OBRIST
Entangled Life is a revelation. It is a radical, hopeful and important book and I couldn't put it down. With elegance, wit and clarity Sheldrake engages us in the hidden world of fungi, a miraculous web of connections, interactions and communication that changes the way we need to look at life, the planet and ourselves
ISABELLA TREE, author of Wilding
A magical journey deep into the roots of Nature. Merlin is an expert storyteller, weaving the tale of our co-evolution with fungi into a scientific adventure. Entangled Life is a must read for citizen scientists hoping to make a positive difference on this sacred planet we share
PAUL STAMETS, author of Mycelium Running
I was completely unprepared for Sheldrake's book. It rolled over me like a tsunami, leaving the landscape rearranged but all the more beautiful
NICHOLAS HUMPHREY, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, LSE, author of Soul Dust
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
A triumph and a thing of vast beauty
TOM HODGKINSON, The Idler
Sheldrake's charm and curiosity makes for a book that is delightful to read, but also grand and dizzying in how thoroughly it recalibrates our understanding of the natural world, and the often-overlooked organisms within it
ED YONG, author of I Contain Multitudes
One of those rare books that can truly change the way you see the world around you, Entangled Life is a mercurial, revelatory, impassioned, urgent, astounding, and necessary read. It's fearless in scope, analytically astute, and brimming with infectious joy
HELEN MACDONALD, author of H is for Hawk
Reading this book, I felt surrounded by a web of wonder. The natural world is more fantastic than any fantasy, so long as you have the means to perceive it. This book provides the means
JARON LANIER, author of Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now
I have been working on and reading and writing about fungi for a decade. And yet, nearly every page of this book contained either an observation so interesting or a turn of phrase so lovely that I was moved to slow down, stop, and reread . This book rocked me into remembering that nature, especially fungal nature, is big and encompassing and creative and destructive. It reminded me that fungi are, like the Universe, sublime
Rob Dunn, Science
A true masterpiece, a thrilling and fascinating insight into the living world, beautifully written, entertaining, funny and inspiring, while representing the science carefully and responsibly. I hope and trust that it will become an instant classic
GEORGE MONBIOT
You may never look at fungi in the same way... Entangled Life is an eye-opening exploration of this mysterious taxonomic kingdom... a journey into an untapped world. It is both a wonderful collection of fungal feats... and a personal account of Sheldrake's experiences with these miraculous organisms
New Scientist
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)
Wondrous ... an astonishing book that could alter our perceptions of fungi for ever. It seems somehow to tip the natural world upside down
Rachel Cooke, Observer
Reads like an adventure story ... wondrous ... beguilingly weaves together lived experience and scientific research
John Carey, Sunday Times
Brilliant ... entrancing ... when we look closely [at fungi], we meet large, unsettling questions ... Merlin Sheldrake ... carries us easily into these questions with ebullience and precision ... challenging some of our deepest assumptions ... A 'door-opener' book is one with a specialist subject in which it finds pathways leading everywhere ... Sheldrake's book is a very fine example
Guardian
Mind-boggling... [Sheldrake] is nothing if not a participatory researcher into his subject and one with a winning sense of humour... it might be a good time to give thanks for this humble lifeform's effect on our lives... It's tempting... to see fungi as the biological model for a better world
Telegraph *****
After this book, nothing will seem the same again ... beautifully written and illustrated ... dazzling ... reveals a world that's both more extraordinary and more delicate than could be imagined
Mail on Sunday
The lives of fungi alone are fascinating, but the questions and wider implications that Sheldrake teases out from them are often truly astounding ... an engrossing, captivating journey ... rigorous, comprehensive, perspective-altering ... if this book is any indication, [Sheldrake] has an exciting career in not only science but also literature ahead of him
Spectator
A joy ... a captivating trip into the weird and wonderful mycorrhizal world around us - and inside us ... full of startling revelations
Daily Mail
A quite magical tour of all things fungal ... a comprehensive and scholarly analysis of fungal biology [put together] in such an accessible and fun way ... an extraordinary achievement
Nature Plants
Riveting and surprising at every turn ... a sensory as well as an intellectual pleasure ... we owe a great debt to Sheldrake for lifting his eyes from the microscope for long enough to enlighten us about the wonders of fungi
Tim Flannery, New Statesman
As a love letter to this undervalued form of life, Sheldrake's book is deeply engaging and constantly surprising. But its ultimate message goes further, showing that the story of life on Earth can be given many narratives ... a balanced, well-informed and at times beautifully written book
Philip Ball, Prospect
This book is like one surprise after another
DAVID BYRNE
This is not just for mushroom-heads - it is science at its most uplifting
Jeannette Winterson, The Times
If you had told me a book about fungi would be both enthralling and completely mind-blowing, I wouldn't have believed you. And yet. Dazzlingly good
India Knight
Wondrous... [A] marvelous tour of these diverse and extraordinary life forms ... eye-opening ... humans should consider fungi among the greatest of earth's marvels
TIME Must-read Books of 2020
The oddest and most uplifting book... It is, to say the least, rare to find such a vast area of life on Earth - fungi - about which one knows almost nothing, and which gives promise of being so important to human life during our next century
Andrew Marr, New Statesman Books of the Year
Enthralling and completely mind-blowing... Dazzlingly good
India Knight, Sunday Times
Sheldrake's research is bang up-to-date ... In Entangled Life, he adroitly explores the wonders of this hidden fungal realm ... Sheldrake explains the latest discoveries with aplomb
Richard Fortey, TLS
Few books blew my mind like Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life. The research, passion, writing, insights ... Not sure if I've ever learned so much from ONE book. Here is to another scientist who celebrates imagination. Essential reading. Go and get swept up in a new world
ANDREA WULF, author of The Invention of Nature
Entangled Life is gorgeous! Enjoying it very much! Despair of the future of life on earth? Never mind, there will be fungus among us. One way or another
MARGARET ATWOOD (on Twitter)
Entangled Life is a special book and Merlin is, as his name suggests, a magical writer. Through his writing I feel connected to nature through a thousand invisible threads
RUSSELL BRAND
Astonishing... It seems somehow to tip the natural world upside down
Observer
A revelation... Changes the way we need to look at life, the planet and ourselves
ISABELLA TREE, author of Wilding
A true masterpiece, a thrilling and fascinating insight into the living world... I hope and trust that it will become an instant classic
GEORGE MONBIOT
Blew my mind... Essential reading. Go and get swept up in a new world
ANDREA WULF, author of The Invention of Nature
Riveting and surprising at every turn... A sensory as well as an intellectual pleasure
New Statesman
Wondrous... Humans should consider fungi among the greatest of earth's marvels
Time, Books of the Year
Wonderful... Eye-opening... A journey into an untapped world
New Scientist
Truly astounding... An engrossing, captivating journey... Perspective-altering
Spectator
I've been listening to the audiobook of Entangled Life by @MerlinSheldrake but think I need to get the paperback too! It's wonderful
NIGELLA LAWSON
Astonishing ... it's impossible to finish this book without feeling awestruck
ANDREW MOTION, TLS Books of the Year
Wonderfully written ... surprising ... The best science writing invites people to view the world around them in a new way, and Entangled Life is a perfect example
Professor BRIAN COX
The most influential book I read this year... a comprehensive but accessible text on how significant fungi are to life on this planet
Ilia Rogatchevski, Wire, *Books of the Year*
Astonishing... It seems somehow to tip the natural world upside down
Observer
Riveting and surprising at every turn... A sensory as well as an intellectual pleasure
New Statesman
A true masterpiece, a thrilling and fascinating insight into the living world, beautifully written, entertaining, funny and inspiring, while representing the science carefully and responsibly. I hope and trust that it will become an instant classic
GEORGE MONBIOT
Few books blew my mind like Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life... Not sure if I've ever learned so much from ONE book... Essential reading. Go and get swept up in a new world
ANDREA WULF, author of The Invention of Nature
Wondrous... A marvellous tour of these diverse and extraordinary life forms... Humans should consider fungi among the greatest of earth's marvels
Time, Books of the Year
Wonderful... Eye-opening... A journey into an untapped world
New Scientist
The lives of fungi alone are fascinating, but the questions and wider implications that Sheldrake teases out from them are often truly astounding... An engrossing, captivating journey... Perspective-altering
Spectator
A revelation... I couldn't put it down... Sheldrake engages us in a miraculous web of connections, interactions and communication that changes the way we need to look at life, the planet and ourselves
ISABELLA TREE, author of Wilding