The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

(Hardback, Large Print Edition)

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Description

As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberrys relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealthits abundance of sweet, juicy berriesto meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.

As Elizabeth Gilbert writes, Robin Wall Kimmerer is a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world. The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times, and a reminder that hoarding wont save us, all flourishing is mutual.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is donating her advance payments from this book as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice.

Reviews

Named a Best Book of the Fall by New York Times Book Review, Oprah Daily, Time, Lithub, BookPage, and Publishers Weekly

The Serviceberry is a profoundly important book about how we might remodel consumer economies around mutuality, generosity, and bountifulness. The time youll spend reading this book will, like the time spent picking wild berries, nourish your soul, heart, and mind. I hope to give this book to everybody. Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See and Cloud Cuckoo Land

A meditation on communing with nature and cultivating connections with one another . . . [a] short, thoughtful book . . . Think of The Serviceberry as a subset of Braiding Sweetgrass, expanding on the gift economy theory She makes a convincing argument, wrapped in beautiful language and vivid imagery An optimistic book, one that trusts in the ability of people to do the right thing. Washington Post

Author Bio

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants as well as Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. Kimmerer is a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. She lives in Syracuse, New York, where she is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment.

John Burgoyne is a member of the New York Society of Illustrators and an alumni of Massachusetts College of Art. John has won over 100 awards in the United States and Europe including Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, Hatch Awards, Graphis, Print, One Show, New York Art Directors Club and Clio. His work can be found at JohnTBurgoyneIllustration.com.