Life Everlasting by Bernd Heinrich Reviewed by Alexis Williams
Life Everlasting: The animal way of death is a book about wild death that should be called Decomposition: Ecological recyclers. It’s not only about animals, it talks about plants and fungi and protists and bacteria. It looks at a long list of fascinating organisms that facilitate decomposition. (with out ever using the word saprophyte)
It is a beautiful look at the mechanics and behaviors that guide nutrients through ecology. There were some details that I found obscene and plan to redact with black marker, but I give this full marks for being exciting and weird and smart and interested in all the right stuff: Dung Beetles, Vultures, mushrooms, he even explains how caterpillars turn into moths. The whole way through he manages to be insightful rather than yucky.
The Biophilium 