Gathering Moss

Publisher's Summary

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 listeners to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.  

Robin Wall Kimmerer's audiobook is not an identification guide, nor is it a scientific treatise. Rather, it is a series of linked personal essays that will lead general listeners and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings, from salmon and hummingbirds to redwoods and rednecks. Kimmerer clearly and artfully explains the biology of mosses, 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 audiobook, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.

©2003 Robin Wall Kimmerer (P)2018 Tantor

Pure lovely, insightful and inspired

This is one of the loveliest books I have listened to or read in a long time. A beautiful and profound discourse between humans and the world we inhabit. I loved this book. I would recommend it to anyone.

Soul Stirring

Not only is Robin Wall Kimmerer's writing amazing but she has the loveliest voice I've ever heard in a book narration. Her writing has changed me deeply. I can't even begin to say how but I'm so grateful to have stumbled upon it. Braiding Sweetgrass is just as beautiful too.

Good, but not comparable to Braiding Sweetgrass

This was a very good book. I can’t imagine a more enjoyable way to learn about mosses without going out and studying them in nature. However, I was hoping to, but did not, feel the same inspiration that I felt when listening to the author’s previous book: Braiding Sweetgrass, which is one of my favorite books.

A beautiful and gripping natural history. <br />

I listened straight through on a drive across British Columbia. I was completely pulled in to her story, and loved how she intertwined the lives, gifts, and adaptations of moss with the lives of humanity and other beings. You can hear the passion and emotion of the author in her reading of her own words. Very powerful.

love this book

Such a wonderful writer, love her books. listen to Braiding Sweetgrass also! Wonderful soft voice.

Superb and moving

Highly recommended! This book, though titled Moss, sharpened my appreciation for all nature around me. It's a work of science and beauty. It's wonderful to read a well written book by a scientist -- they are not easy to find in Auduble. The book also deepened my connection with our planet and the need to preserve it, and my ambition to work toward greater human respect for all that we are blessed to have evolved in the midst of. With her background in scientific rigor, her intrepid and tactile outdoor exploration, and her ability to find and explain connections between all things, Robin Wall Kimmerer continues in the tradition of Alexander von Humboldt, the incredible subject of a new book by Andrea Wulf.

Beyond moss into the balance of nature

It took me a while to get into this book. There is the wonder of the natural world but also the story of the destruction of a way a life that lived in balance with nature. Robin ying yangs back and forth. inviting us to see through her eyes the beauty and awe and harmony that she sees and then, bringing as vividly, the horror she feels at the violence and disrespect with which our culture tears all that beauty and delicate balance apart. I have to say, it was pure pleasure to listen to her speak of the first, nature's intricate ways, and vey hard at times to hear how we, our society,, belief system, and pursuit of gain, is cutting through the very fabric of nature that is there to sustain us. Not just us, as people, of course, but all that is, in this world.

This is very important book with concepts we must come to learn if we want to survive as a species.

wow

Poetic, precise, informative and just one of a kind. I'd love to thank the author personally. Leaving a 5 star review is the least I can do.

very good story teller and very informative!

the author did a nice job telling stories while being very informative! very interesting to learn more about mosses