The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
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About the Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.
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 serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution insures 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 won’t save us, all flourishing is mutual.”
About the Author
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.
Editorial 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 you’ll 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 ofAll the Light We Cannot See and Cloud Cuckoo Land
“A moving meditation on what a giving tree can teach us about building a fairer society… A compelling argument for a more ethical economy.”—TIME“Robin Wall Kimmerer, celebrated author ofBraiding Sweetgrass, gifts her readers once again with this gorgeous meditation on reciprocity and abundance in nature. . . Beautifully illustrated, brimming and buzzing with plant and animal life,The Serviceberry is a lyrical call to action.”—Oprah Daily
“A delightful new book that reflects on the natural world and how we can derive lessons on gratitude, reciprocity and community to flourish mutually.”—Seattle Times
“Kimmerer’s deeply rooted, wise, and inspiring reflections coalesce into a fresh approach to connecting ecology, economics, and ethics… [Readers] will learn a lot about ecological ways of living from Kimmerer's nature-rooted wisdom and beautifully clear writing.”—Booklist, starred review
“An eloquent call to action.”—Publishers Weekly