Edie's Reviews > Sweet in Tooth and Claw: nature is more cooperative than we think

I have not stopped talking about this book since I started reading it. Thank you to Patagonia, Kristin Ohlson, and NetGalley for the ARC. I will be buying a copy to reread and highlight and annotate as soon as it is published later this year.

Sweet in Tooth and Claw is about the climate crisis and yet, unlike so much written on the subject, it is a deeply hopeful book. I finished feeling more connected and empowered after reading about the ubiquity of cooperation throughout the natural world and how humanity is reinserting itself into that web of mutuality. The writing gets four stars from me, not because it isn't good but because so many writers in this field write so beautifully (Rachel Carson, Robin Wall Kimmerer) the bar is impossibly high. The content is where the book shines. It is as if Ohlson has read all the scientific papers and talked to all the experts and then distills the information into an easily consumable format for lay people. Her translation services are priceless.

I continue to think about the ideas and examples presented in Sweet in Tooth and Claw. As a reader, it has stayed with me, evolving as I wrestle with the problems and possibilities it presents. A new perspective is a rare and startling gift. I often read to get a glimpse of someone else's point of view. This book changed my own point of view. Where I once saw competition, I see cooperation. Where I saw humanity as the villain, I now see we have the opportunity to be co-creators of a thriving ecosystem. Co-creation has been an import part of my theology so I am not sure why the idea of being co-creators in a physical sense was surprising, but it was. This book provided me an opportunity to weave together my understanding of the spiritual and physical world. Provides me, present tense, because I continue to chew on the rich gift of Ohlson's research and writing.

Thanks again to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC. Please pre-order the book from your favorite indie bookstore today.