The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Serviceberry
Subtitle: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
Author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
Genre: Nonfiction, Nature, Humanity
Publish Date: November 2024
Read: February 2025
Favorite Quote: I lament my own immersion in an economy that grinds what is beautiful and unique into dollars, converts gifts to commodities in a currency that enables us to purchase things we don’t really need while destroying what we do.
Synopsis: In a society of things-for-dollars and hoarding more and more without sharing, we have the opportunity to learn from Indigenous Peoples and from the land. The land is abundant with gifts and through its abundance, a reciprocity becomes the natural order of things: have too much? Share with others. Take only what you need, no reason to hoard and deny others.
Why does this book beguile? The Serviceberry comes in at just over one hundred pages, but it packs a punch. Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, delivers another well-written hot take on our society and economy. As the rich get richer and the poor are left destitute, how can we learn from the land and learn to give back what we have in abundance?
The Serviceberry is a phenomenal book that packs a punch in a few pages.
Rating: 5/5
Link*: The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
If you’re interested in this, read*: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
