{"product_id":"forest-euphoria-the-abounding-queerness-of-nature","title":"Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInterspecies Dens \n\u003cbr\u003eSlugs, Snails, and Other Ways of Being \n\u003cbr\u003eSwamp Creatures \n\u003cbr\u003eFungal Personhood \n\u003cbr\u003eCemetery Crows \n\u003cbr\u003ePurple Love \n\u003cbr\u003eCommunity Time \n\u003cbr\u003eThe Magnetism of Eels \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpring Ephemerals: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEpilogue: Forest Euphoria\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePatricia Ononiwu Kaishian\u003c\/b\u003e is the curator of mycology at the New York State Museum, as well as faculty with the Bard Prison Initiative. Kaishian earned her PhD from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She lives in the Hudson Valley.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e reveals how science can serve as a refuge, a truth, and a means of survival. Mycologist Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian chronicles for readers the ways that fungi, forests, and fieldwork turned out to be her partners in healing from trauma and in navigating the nuances of race and gender in a world insisting on binaries. This is a remarkable, urgently needed book--one which offers readers curiosity, comfort, and belonging.\"\u003cb\u003e--Judges' Citation, National Book Foundation Science + Literature Program \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A full-throated celebration of the diversity of the natural world that encourages readers, regardless of how they may identify, to reconsider their place in it . . . Blending her own personal history growing up in New York's Hudson Valley with insightful science writing, [Kaishian] takes a deep dive into some of nature's overlooked yet rather ubiquitous non-heteronormative wonders.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e, \"The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"We're told from a young age that 'natural' hierarchies govern the world. . . . But in \u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e, Kaishian urges us to reconsider this 'natural' order. By examining the vast diversity of the animal world, she invites readers to reexamine human society. Kaishian reflects on growing up with gender dysphoria and how the queer expansiveness of nature stood in stark contrast to rigid social and sexual binaries in her day-to-day life.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eVanity Fair\u003c\/i\u003e, \"The 17 Best Books of 2025\" \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A fascinating book that celebrates difference in unexpected ways . . . Kaishian makes a powerful case for trying to understand nature without the artificial binaries and hierarchies of human societies.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"If nothing has compared to reading \u003ci\u003eBraiding Sweetgrass\u003c\/i\u003e or if you're looking for something to broaden your understanding of and deepen your love for the world, this is the book you've been waiting for. It's a perfect book for our fractured, difficult times.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--USA Today \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Kaishian's combination of science writing and memoir helps connect concepts of gender, sexuality and neurodiversity to the varied world of plants and animals, bringing a level of joy and wonder to both human and nonhuman experiences often maligned as 'other'. . . . In asking 'What kinds of knowledge can flourish when we celebrate queerness?' \u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e brings the spirit of Pride to the study of nature.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--The Seattle Times \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e pulses with vitality, in the wondrous beings we encounter and Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian's vivid storytelling. I'm in awe of her ability to interweave the little-known lives of slugs and fungi with memoir and social movements, so that every page broadens one's vision. Her expansive view of life provides an antidote to the loneliness of our species.\"\u003cb\u003e--Robin Wall Kimmerer, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eBraiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e is a gorgeous celebration of the fact that, when you give your heart to Science, it rewards you with a glimpse of something profound and beautiful.\"\u003cb\u003e--Hope Jahren, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eLab Girl\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Story of More\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Just as nature resists easy categorization, so does this gem of a book. It is a heartfelt memoir. It is a lyrical feat of science writing. Perhaps above all else, it is a love letter to the messy, wondrous, complicated, binary-defying nature of the natural world--and, within it, us. I loved it.\"\u003cb\u003e--Ed Yong, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eAn Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms around Us\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"An expansive, vividly-told science memoir that celebrates nature's unsung little slimy guys (eels, slugs, fungi) alongside expanded concepts of queerness and neurodiversity. Kaishian finds belonging and connection in the natural world, and in the telling, leaves the reader with more to love. If you liked Robin Wall Kimmerer's \u003ci\u003eBraiding Sweetgrass\u003c\/i\u003e, this book is for you.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Orion \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"By revealing how the natural order of the world very often rejects the rigidity imposed by heteronormativity . . . \u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e stunningly illustrates what lessons we might be able to glean about queerness from wildlife.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Harper's Bazaar\u003c\/i\u003e, \"The 25 Best Books Coming Out This Spring\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"At a time when both science and the planet are under attack, \u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e offers a vision of the sciences as a space of refuge and imagination . . . and tenderly draws connections between ecological and personal discovery.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eVulture\u003c\/i\u003e, \"28 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Summer\" \u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Nothing short of stunning . . . Kaishian achieves something truly singular. She establishes a kaleidoscopic vision of interconnectedness that encompasses intricate webs of communication and cooperation, while acknowledging that much always remains to be discovered. Not remotely dry, \u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e is an evocative work of profound creativity that combines scientific rigor, personal narrative, and a call for an outlook that is better, more inclusive, more \u003ci\u003etrue\u003c\/i\u003e and genuinely scientific.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Shelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"With immense knowledge, grace, experience, and lyrical prose . . . Kaishian persuades us that there is never just one way for living things in the natural world to reproduce or evolve or interact.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Kirkus \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"[A] boundary-busting debut . . . Kaishian understands how other--and othered--organisms are closer to the human world than we typically think. It is a message gorgeously delivered: Kaishian possesses a poet's understanding of lyricism and language, and her writing invites you to sink into a pool of wonder. I cannot think of anything better we ought to be doing right now.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--BookPage \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A fantastic read . . . If you're looking for a delightfully earnest, thoughtful, and nuanced exploration of nature, home, belonging, language, queerness, lineage, and how these things intersect, you're in luck. . . . The whole book is a complicated love letter to all the pieces of the world--languages, trees, mountains, streams, animals, people--who've shaped [Kaishian].\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Book Riot\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A liberating nature text that finds level ground and interrelatedness between humble microbes and the swirling cosmos, all abounding in queerness.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Foreword Reviews \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review) \u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Fascinating . . . Reverent . . . The lyrical prose imbues the scientific discussions with a sense of wonder [and] will leave readers in awe of nature's many splendors.\"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Publishers Weekly \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"If the first lesson in how to love nature is learning to see yourself in it--and to see it in you--then \u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e is a master class in how to love the world. Whether our fellow inhabitants of this wild island planet are tiny or grand, plain or gorgeous, deceptively simple or mind-bogglingly complex, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian is in love with them all. And her racing, bounding, arms-wide-open enthusiasm teaches us how to love them, too, in their full, astonishing diversity.\"\u003cb\u003e--Margaret Renkl, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e issues a joyous invitation to live with curiosity and love, and what could be a greater gift? I felt this invitation in the book's scientific rigor; in its attention to the sophisticated affinity of all life; in its exacting work to orient a reader to the symmetries, puzzlements, and delights of our world.\"\u003cb\u003e--Megha Majumdar, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eA Burning \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Bowerbirds and river eels are among my favorite creatures on the planet because they defy expectations and break down too-human assumptions so profoundly. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian's\u003ci\u003e Forest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e is an exaltation of the nonhuman creatures whose stories might yet teach us how to radically revise our understanding of being and coexistence on this planet. New stories of life, love, gender, grief, and joy are thriving all around us if we could simply turn away from human self-centeredness. This book thrilled me to the bone. I will never forget it.\"\u003cb\u003e--Lidia Yuknavitch, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Chronology of Water \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e is an enchanting paean to the queerness that abounds in nature, both human and nonhuman. Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian writes about the small, overlooked wonders of the world--eel foreheads, blue slug penises, and tiny mushrooms that grow only on the leg of one species of ant--with such reverence and lyricism that you may find yourself awakened to new kinds of beauty. Kaishian's universe of intimacy with the more-than-human world is radical. Let it open you up to new sensations, desires, and expectations of life itself. All of us organisms want the same thing, Kaishian argues: 'To be sensed for who they are, to be heard, to be known, to be seen.' An instant, exuberant classic.\"\u003cb\u003e--Sabrina Imbler, author of \u003ci\u003eHow Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Expansive and intimate, replete with resonant insights and myriad fascinating accounts of the misunderstood lifeways that course through our own lives and throughout the globe, \u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e invites us to more lovingly notice what and who is around us, to question imposed binaries and all forms of othering, to celebrate the endless queerness of nature, and its defiance of human dichotomies. In her sterling authorial debut, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian dispels the notion that science cannot inspire magic.\"\u003cb\u003e--Doug Bierend, author of \u003ci\u003eIn Search of Mycotopia\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e is nothing short of a revelation. The earth is weirder, sexier, and queerer than we can imagine, and Kaishian's poetic prose expertly balances a rigorous critique of the dominant paradigms driving ecocide as well as exulting in the sensual universes of organisms often maligned and misunderstood. The writing scintillates with spores and seeds and profound generosity.\"\u003cb\u003e--Sophie Strand, author of\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Flowering Wand: Rewilding the Sacred Masculine \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION SCIENCE + LITERATURE SELECTED TITLE * \u003ci\u003eVANITY FAIR\u003c\/i\u003e BEST BOOKS OF 2025 * \u003ci\u003eTIME\u003c\/i\u003e 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2025 * SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2026 WILLIAM SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR WRITING\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"An antidote to the loneliness of our species.\"--ROBIN WALL KIMMERER\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A master class in how to love the world.\"--MARGARET RENKL\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA thrilling book about the abounding queerness of the natural world that challenges our expectations of what is normal, beautiful, and possible.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGrowing up, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian felt most at home in the swamps and culverts near her house in the Hudson Valley. A child who frequently felt out of place, too much of one thing or not enough of another, she found acceptance in these settings, among other amphibious beings. In snakes, snails, and, above all, fungi, she saw her own developing identities as a queer, neurodivergent person reflected back at her--and in them, too, she found a personal path to a life of science.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBraiding her personal story with science, Kaishian shows us this making of a scientist and introduces readers to the queerness of all the life around us. Fungal species, we learn, commonly encompass more than two biological sexes--and some as many as twenty-three thousand. Some intersex slugs mutually fire calcium carbonate \"love darts\" at each other during courtship. Glass eels are sexually undetermined until their last year of life, a mystery that scientists once dubbed \"the eel question.\" Nature, Kaishian shows us, is filled with the unusual, the overlooked, and the marginalized--and they have lessons for us all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWide-ranging, richly observant, and full of surprises, \u003ci\u003eForest Euphoria\u003c\/i\u003e will open your eyes and change how you look at the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/03\/2025 (EAN 9781954118904, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/30\/2025 (EAN 9781954118904, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/01\/2025 (EAN 9781954118904, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eForeword\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/21\/2025 (EAN 9781954118904, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Spiegel \u0026 Grau","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496151351574,"sku":"9781954118904","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781954118904.jpg?v=1783054131","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/forest-euphoria-the-abounding-queerness-of-nature","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}