Structure

Becoming Animal is divided into 15 titled and categorized sections: "Shadow (Depth Ecology I)," "House (Materiality I)," "Wood and Stone (Materiality II)," "Reciprocity (Knowledge I: Science and Experience)," "Depth (Depth Ecology II)," "Mind (Knowledge II: The Ecology of Consciousness)," "Mood (Depth Ecology III)," "The Speech of Things (Language I)," "The Discourse of Birds (Language II)," "Sleight-of-Hand (Magic I)," "Shapeshifting (Magic II)," and "The Real in Its Wonder (Language III)." These chapters are preceded by an introduction, "Between the Body and the Breathing Earth," and followed by a conclusion, "At the Heart of the Heart of the World." Each of these titles signifies the author's central concerns for the section's enclosed pages. The parenthetical categorizations lend the reader a fluid reading experience, by indicating the primary topic of discussion, and its associated thematic explorations.

While Becoming Animal is divided into these separate parcels, the reader can experience it either...