The Serviceberry

An Economy of Gifts and Abundance

By: Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Burgoyne

Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, an inspiring vision of how to reorient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity and community

As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most?

Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival.

The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times, and a reminder that “hoarding won’t save us, all flourishing is mutual.”

© Robin Wall Kimmerer 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

Critic reviews

The time you’ll spend reading this book will, like the time spent picking wild berries, nourish your soul, heart, and mind. I hope to give this book to everybody (Anthony Doerr)

Compelling ... A moving meditation on what a giving tree can teach us about building a fairer society

The Serviceberry is a gem of a book. It invites us to think again about economics, and imagine another way of relating to one another based on generosity, kindness, interconnectedness, and restraint. The book reminds us that how we think, and the stories we tell, shape how we live – and it’s high time we thought and lived differently, with new stories, about our place in nature. (James Rebanks)

A meditation on communing with nature and cultivating connections with one another … Kimmerer makes a convincing argument, wrapped in beautiful language and vivid imagery

A sweet reminder of our interdependence

A gorgeous meditation on reciprocity and abundance in nature ... a lyrical call to action

An uplifting, open-hearted little book that asks us to reframe our relationships in the world as ones of easy generosity. To be wealthy, explains Robin Wall Kimmerer, is to have enough to share: give all that you have, and take only what you need (Cal Flyn)

A masterful reflection on ecology and culture … startling in its simplicity. Kimmerer invites readers to envision a life that embraces the gift economy—one built on reciprocity, collective well-being, and care … Her beautiful and hopeful prose leaves readers feeling sated, galvanized, and keenly aware of the world around them

Vivid and poetic, and also fierce… An elegant distillation of Kimmerer’s political ideas

This wise little book asks us to escape our doomed extractive economy, learning from the cooperative circularity of living systems and the sustainable stewardship of indigenous cultures (Gaia Vince)

Relevance

Important and poetic, gently disrupting and thought provoking. Beautiful lessons from Nature. This needs sharing far and wide

$$ goes to great cause

Beautiful perspective and I just love her voice and way of explaining things - such a treasure!

A Sweet Alternative to Capitalism

The Service Berry, beautifully read by the author, Robin Wall Kimmer, offers an enticing alternative to capitalism by exploring the gift economy through an ecological lens.