The Sound of Feathers
Attentive Living in a World Beyond Ourselves
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- $28.99
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- $28.99
Publisher Description
From the rustle of a crow’s wings to the cool touch of moss on a stone wall, to the quiet determination of a worm crossing a sidewalk, The Sound of Feathers invites readers to notice the small wonders of life all around them. These fleeting details hold surprising truths about humanity’s connection to nature, the complex relationships of care and harm in which we are entangled, our responsibilities to other species, and what it means to be fully present in the world. Through vivid storytelling and deeply personal reflections, Kathryn Gillespie invites us to slow down, pay attention, and think differently about our everyday lives so that we might imagine shared futures of flourishing. She urges us to confront the forces that separate us from the natural world and find more compassionate ways of living in harmony with it. Gillespie reminds us that the quiet, often overlooked moments in life are where the most profound insights and connections begin.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this eye-opening reflection, Gillespie (The Cow with Ear Tag #1389), associate director for the Center for Food Systems Transformation at the University of San Diego, posits that paying more attention to nature is key to building a compassionate world. There are "so many details of life and death unfolding in block after block of urban sidewalk," Gillespie asserts, from the chirp of a hummingbird to the smell of decomposing leaves. Practicing attentiveness can help people intuit how their environments work and what these environments need to survive—an understanding that she says has been damaged by capitalism and colonialism. She draws on personal anecdotes to unpack humanity's tendency to treat the natural world as a site of consumption and domination, chronicling, for example, a commercial whale-watching expedition that left her feeling uneasy as a crowd of boats tossed fish into the water to allow eager viewers to get what they paid for. Her anxiety deepens when she visits a biomedical research facility at the University of Washington where "dogs barked and howled from behind closed doors." These moving, often heartbreaking accounts make for a convincing call to cultivate respect for and live in harmony with other species. It's a bitter but potent pill to swallow.
