Utter, Earth

“To shoal is to be social, to sense together, we learn in one of Yuen’s more-than-human essays. But to school is to sweep together in unison, to dazzle with coherence. It’s this spirit of schooling that animates Utter, Earth, essays that—in their curiosity, play, and care—aim to weave us back into a world of which we are but one small part. How would our language change if we invited nonhuman others alongside us again in fellowship, if our lives not only allowed for but celebrated everything swimming just beyond the limits of what we know? It’s not time for school, it’s time to school, to school with the creatures of Utter, Earth, the lemurs, leopards, and leafcutter ants, the wombats, waterbuck, and wildebeest, to school with others to find ourselves again.” - David Naimon, host of Between the Covers

“Utter, Earth leaps, ranges, delves—or should I say rabbits, antelopes, and elephant seals? Isaac Yuen’s playful, precise book will delight biologist and linguaphile alike. With persnickety glee and accuracy, he holds obscure facts of the more-than-human world up to the light in a style that’s a mashup of Rachel Carson, Gary Larson, Ross Gay, David Sedaris, and David Attenborough. The enthusiasm and delight of Utter, Earth is infectious, and that’s just the point. Yuen wants us to fall in love with the beings we share this amazing planet with, to realize the human way of living, breathing, birthing, eating, working, and caring is not the acme but just one option among many wonderful, amazing ways of being—and we could perhaps learn a thing or two from dung beetles and hagfish if we allowed ourselves to be curious. I laughed aloud while reading Utter, Earth, and the naturalist in me bows to the huge body of knowledge and research that permits Yuen’s accuracy to sing with such a light touch. Do yourself a favor and read every page, including the ‘Brief Thoughts on Almost Every Mentioned, Mostly Living Thing’ that serves as a quasi-appendix. You’ll leave your chair ready to appreciate the world around you anew.” - Elizabeth Bradfield, naturalist, author of Toward Antarctica, and coeditor of Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry