EARTHLY BODIES

Part memoir, part ecology, part fable.

Chakour, who practices herbalism and leads rewilding retreats, argues that modern humans are “detached from [our] bodily existence” and presents the story of how she became a “more embodied, instinctual self.” To invite readers to “embrace [our] animal nature,” Chakour adds to her narrative the stories of 23 nonhuman (“more-than-human”) animals. The interspersed vignettes—about foxes and bees, hawks, and black bears—are meant to correct the harmful misunderstandings that keep humans from living in harmony with these other species, to highlight what we have in common, and to serve up life lessons. Recalling a time when she worked as a personal trainer and encountered firsthand the appearance-based anxieties of other women, Chakour wishes we could emancipate ourselves from the “bondage” of caring about exteriors and, like fierce and matriarchal hyenas, focus instead on cultivating sisterhood and strength. Writing about a partner who wished to live in New York while Chakour herself favored Massachusetts provides an occasion to contemplate seagull pairs that argue so long over where to build their nests that they never make a choice. The animal parallels go some way toward adding interest to the story, which, for all the promised wildness, reads as relatively tame; after a period of indecision, the author leaves her relationship, joins Bumble (the animal that appears in this chapter is not difficult to guess), and buys some land. The animal stories allow Chakour to incorporate many urgent ecological topics into her narrative and give readers a chance to learn about the important systemic roles of wolves, beavers, vultures, and others. Inhabited by so many complex and interesting creatures, Earthly Bodies asks that we pay attention on behalf of the planet.

Sometimes meandering, but makes an urgent case for ecological thinking.