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Braiding Sweetgrass

An Alchemy of Giving: Reciprocity in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass

At some point, intellectual historians will have to reckon with the phenomenal success of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. When they do, they may place it among the most important works of its kind, up there with Walden, say, or Silent Spring. Now is probably not the time. First published in 2013, it is at this writing number two on the New York Times bestseller list of non-fiction books in paperback, a list it has appeared on now for 119 weeks. What accounts for the book’s success? Certainly, a genre Read more