Why Rebel

'If bravery itself could write, it would write like she does' John Berger 
 
Why rebel? 
 
Because our footprint on the Earth has never mattered more than now. How we treat it, in the spirit of gift or of theft, has never been more important. 
 
Because we need a politics of kindness, but the very opposite is on the rise. Libertarian fascism, with its triumphal brutalism, its racism and misogyny - a politics that loathes the living world. 
 
Because nature is not a hobby. It is the life on which we depend, as Indigenous societies have never forgotten. 
 
Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars, and they are lining up now to write rebellion across the skies. 
 
From the author of Wild, this passionate, poetic manifesto for urgent rebellion is also a paean to the deep and extraordinary beauty of the natural world. 
 
&lsquo;Jay Griffiths helped redefine activism for a generation, combining detailed research with a poet&rsquo;s flair for language. Her works defy categorisation and fizz with original ideas and excitement&rsquo; Byline Times 
 
'Jay's writing has reduced me to hot throbs of grief; through beauty and subtlety, to the depths of the hurt of these times . . . and what a liberation to express this, to free the space in my chest to feel the love that propels me forwards' Gail Bradbrook 
 
'Chewy, erudite, filled with swing: this is a dazzling book, urgent without ever being worthy, a book that crackles. Why Rebel is a Tardis, to read it is to enter the massive, a deep interior that hydrates vocation in a time of trouble' Martin Shaw 
 
'This short book is beautifully written, and packs a powerful emotional punch. I found myself welling up as I reached the end. At this desperate moment in human history, Why Rebel is surely part of the wake-up call we need' Prof. Rupert Read 
 
'There's a book called Life and Fate and in it, it says that when surrounded by death and destruction the most human thing to do is to engage in an act of kindness. Jay's book is such an act' Roger Hallam

There is just one question left today for all writers. What would Nature say to us if Nature had a voice? I know of nobody who is facing up to that question with more honesty, courage and commitment than Jay Griffiths

John Ashton, independent activist and former UK Climate Change Ambassador

Jay Griffiths is the author of many books, such as Wild: An Elemental Journey, Kith: The Riddle of the Childscape, Tristimania and Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time. She won the Discover award for the best first-time author in the USA; the inaugural Orion award and the Hay Festival International Fellowship. She has broadcast and written widely, on subjects such as Radiohead and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her work has received widespread accolades, including from Gary Snyder, Barry Lopez, Don Paterson, John Berger, Philip Pullman, KT Tunstall and Nikolai Fraiture.

Why rebel? 
 
Because our footprint on the Earth has never mattered more than now. How we treat it, in the spirit of gift or of theft, has never been more important. 
 
Because we need a politics of kindness, but the very opposite is on the rise. Libertarian fascism, with its triumphal brutalism, its racism and misogyny - a politics that loathes the living world. 
 
Because nature is not a hobby. It is the life on which we depend, as Indigenous societies have never forgotten. 
 
Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars, and they are lining up now to write rebellion across the skies.

A Diary of Manic Depression

Tristimania

A stark, lyrical and personal account of the psyche in crisis from the bestselling author of Wild and Kith 
 
"I want to describe it for those who have never experienced it but who perhaps know someone with it. If this book can befriend just one person in that terrifying loneliness, it will be worth writing." 
 
Tristimania tells the story of a devastating year-long episode of manic depression, culminating in a long solo pilgrimage across Spain. Recording the experience of mania as has rarely been done before, Jay Griffiths shows how the condition is at once terrifying and also profoundly creative, both tricking and treating the psyche. 
 
An intimate and raw journey of mental health and recovery, Tristimania illuminates something of the universal human spirit. 
 
'Profoundly poetic. A glimpse of madness from inside the eye of the storm' Observer

Publisher's description. A stark and lyrical memoir of the steep descent into madness and the slow, agonizing recovery that follows. In 2013, Jay Griffiths suffered a devastating year-long episode of hypomania and extreme depression. Tristimania is the extraordinary, brave and painfully honest account of that year.

In 2013, Jay Griffiths experienced a devastating mental breakdown that led to a year-long episode of manic depression. She swung from the extreme highs of mania to the depths of suicidal depression. Eventually she resolved to take control of her situation, taking on the formidable Camino de Santiago pilgrimage across Europe without any companion or support - determined to find a cure for her torment. 
 
Tristimania is the staggeringly courageous and soaringly lyrical account of this unforgettable year.

The Riddle of the Childscape

Kith

From Jay Griffiths, the author of the award-winning Wild comes a passionate polemic defence of childhood 
 
'Her work isn't just good -- it's necessary' Philip Pullman 
 
In Kith, Jay Griffiths seeks to discover why we deny our children the freedoms of space, time and the natural world. 
 
Visiting communities as far apart as West Papua and the Arctic, as well as the UK, and delving into history, philosophy, language and literature, she explores how children's affinity for nature is an essential and universal element of childhood. 
 
It is a journey deep into the heart of what it means to be a child, and it is central to all our experiences, young and old. 
 
 'An impassioned, visionary plea to restore to our children the spirit of adventure, freedom and closeness to nature that is their birthright. We must hear it and act on it before it is too late' Iain McGilchrist 
 
 'Jay Griffiths writes with such richness and mischief about the one thing that could truly save the world: its children' KT Tunstall

Griffiths' understanding of how it feels to be a child is extraordinary, and her writing is as vivid as poetry

I didn't just read this book; I revelled in it.  Playful and polemical, emotional and imaginative. As vital as play itself

A subterranean book. We excavate it to refind the secrets of childhood, our own, and many other childhoods in times and places far from ours

Kith could have been written by no-one but Jay Griffiths. It is ablaze with her love of the physical world and her passionate moral sense that goodness and a true relation with nature are intimately connected. She has the same visionary understanding of childhood that we find in Blake and Wordsworth, and John Clare would have read her with delight. Her work isn't just good -- it's necessary

Jay Griffiths writes with such richness and mischief about the one thing that could truly save the world: its children

An impassioned, visionary plea to restore to our children the spirit of adventure, freedom and closeness to nature that is their birthright. We must hear it and act on it before it is too late

Scintillating, passionate, supremely honest. Adults and children need more books like this

Jay Griffiths is one of our most poetic and passionate critics of the ways of civilisation. Provocative, illuminating and shamelessly romantic

In Kith, Jay Griffiths seeks to discover why we deny our children the freedoms of space, time and the natural world. Visiting communities as far apart as West Papua and the Arctic, as well as the UK, and delving into history, philosophy, language and literature, she explores how children's affinity for nature is an essential and universal element of childhood. It is a journey deep into the heart of what it means to be a child, and it is central to all our experiences, young and old.

An Elemental Journey

Wild

'Easily the best, most rewarding travel book that I have read in the last decade' Guardian

WINNER OF THE ORION BOOK AWARD 
 
Part travelogue, part manifesto for wildness as an essential character of life, Wild is a one-of-a-kind book from a one-of-a-kind author 
 
'Undefinable, untameable, profound and extraordinary' Observer 
 
'A masterpiece' Maria Popova 
_________________________ 
 
'I took seven years over this work, spent all I had, my time, money and energy. Part of the journey was a green riot and part a deathly bleakness. I got ill, I got well. I went to the freedom fighters of West Papua and sang my head off in their highlands. I met cannibals infinitely kinder and more trustworthy than the murderous missionaries who evangelize them. I found a paradox of wildness in the glinting softness of its charisma, for what is savage is in the deepest sense gentle and what is wild is kind. In the end - a strangely sweet result - I came back to a wild home.' 
 
Wild describes an extraordinary odyssey, courageous and sometimes dangerous. It is by turns funny, touching and harrowing, and offers a poetic consideration of the tender connection between human society and wildlands. 
_________________________ 
 
'Easily the best travel book that I have read in the last ten years' Guardian 
 
'Wild is like nothing else I've ever read: thrilling, troubling, frightening, exhilarating. This is a truly necessary book, and we are all lucky that the subject found a writer worthy of it' Philip Pullman 
 
'Passionate, rigorous and utterly honest, Griffiths's remarkable book is written in a style as wild and exciting as its subject' Robert Macfarlane

Wild is like nothing else I've ever read: thrilling, troubling, frightening, exhilarating. Jay Griffiths' courage and energy are formidable, but so is her sheer intelligence and literary flair

Reality is such that both language and imagination have to exaggerate in order to confront it truly. Living with such exaggeration you need a very good head for heights and a lot of bravery. In this book Jay Griffiths has both. If bravery itself could write (by definition it can't), it would write, I believe, like she does

A vivifying read in its entirety . . . both an act of revolt (against the erasure of the wild, against the domestication of the soul) and an act of reverence (for the irrepressible in nature, for landscape as a form of knowledge, for life on Earth, as improbable and staggering as love.) . . . Reclaiming our wildness emerges as an act of courage and resistance amid the conspicuous consumption by which late-stage capitalism drugs us into mistaking having for being . . . What Griffiths offers is a wakeup call from this near-living, a spell against apathy, against our self-expatriation from our own nature

'I took seven years over this work, spent all I had, my time, money and energy. Part of the journey was a green riot and part a deathly bleakness. I got ill, I got well. I went to the freedom fighters of West Papua and sang my head off in their highlands. I met cannibals infinitely kinder and more trustworthy than the murderous missionaries who evangelize them. I anchored a boat to an iceberg where polar bears slept; ate witchetty grubs and visited sea gypsies. I found a paradox of wildness in the glinting softness of its charisma, for what is savage is in the deepest sense gentle and what is wild is kind. In the end - a strangely sweet result - I came back to a wild home' 
 
Wild describes an extraordinary odyssey, courageous and sometimes dangerous, to wildernesses of earth and ice, water and fire. It is by turns funny, touching and harrowing, and offers a poetic consideration of the tender connection between human society and wild lands. Wild won the inaugural Orion Book Award for 2007 and was shortlisted for the Orwell prize and for the World Book Day award.

Jay Griffiths

Evocative and heart-warming, this brilliantly researched book is joyful, generous and wise in equal measure, and always written with spirit and flair

John Lister-Kaye, author of 'At the Water's Edge: A Walk in the Wild'

Marvellous, urgently important and compellingly readable . . . A surging, deeply resonant hymn to the joys of entanglement with the more-than-human world

Charles Foster, author of 'Cry of the Wild'

Animal magic in Jay Griffiths’s uniquely beautiful voice. Facts have never been so lovingly told

Humbling, inspiring, and so beautifully written, this is an utterly compelling exploration of our relationship with animals, and their extraordinary power to heal us

Caroline Lucas, former leader of the Green Party

Griffiths’s genius is to reveal the familiar as wondrous, strange, miraculous. Incredible and heart-wrenching, this gift of a book will shift your relationship to animals

Reading Jay’s book is like reading a pure praise poem to the more than human world, a poem filled with love, respect and joy. It thrums with wit, wisdom, understanding and research. But mostly the joy of being connected to life, from the smallest insect to the great whales

Exuberant, playful, and deeply inspirational . . . Jay Griffiths offers a refreshing vision of how animals heal us . . . A wonderful read

From life-saving pot-bellied pigs to cancer-detecting dogs, animals have a deep capacity to protect or heal us . . . Drawing on science, historic records and indigenous knowledge, this book looks closer at this fascinating topic

A book of boundless passion and compassion. As she explores the worlds of animals, Jay Griffiths make the case for a different way of living: a joyous, vital inclusivity. This is how a book should be - genuinely mind-expanding

Griffiths channels her customary compassion and wisdom and draws on science, history and indigenous knowledge to present myriad evidence that animals actually do heal us. And, remarkably, this is not just a book about how they heal loneliness, alleviate trauma, fear and depression in human individuals; from wolves that teach ethics to the collective decisions of bees, it is also about how animals can guide us in creating societies that are healthier, fairer and kinder

Deeply researched and highly readable, this is a moving and exquisitely written exploration of how we are shaped by different creatures from tigers to teddy bears

Caroline Eden, author of 'Samarkand: Recipes and Stories From Central Asia and the Caucasus'

In How Animals Heal Us, Jay Griffiths weaves a poetic tapestry of wonders; a searing, soaring manifesto for reviving our vital communion with other creatures

Natalie Lawrence, author of 'Enchanted Creatures'

A revelatory and utterly fascinating book. What comes across through the array of stories and insights drawn from the ethology Griffiths has researched and conveyed so brilliantly is both a sense of wonder and also gratitude: we are fortunate to share our lives with these animals and this moving, inspiring and joyous book powerfully reminds us of this

James Macdonald Lockhart, author of 'Wild Air'

Imagine meeting someone on a train who turns to you and starts telling you the most amazing stories about animals. Each one makes you go “wow!” And she can talk for hours—eloquently, magically. This is Jay Griffiths. Then she puts it all in a wonderful book, and you can return to these tales again and again

David Rothenberg, author of 'Why Birds Sing'

Jay Griffiths helped redefine activism for a generation, combining detailed research with a poet’s flair for language. Her works defy categorisation and fizz with original ideas and excitement

How Animals Heal Us is a wise, deep, and tender account of animal healing for humans, written in lyrical language that sings with compassion. This is one of my favourite books of all time

Pascale Petit, author of 'What the Water Gave Me: Poems after Frida Kahlo'

Expansive, immersive, tender and poignant. Jay Griffiths forensically reveals the layers and depths of the human-animal bond, the imperative for sensitivity and attention to the animal realm around us, and why humanity must change direction as deftly as a swift to ensure our health and wellbeing. An absorbing and thought-provoking read

Dr Sean Wensley, author of 'Through A Vet's Eyes'

Weaving humor, empathy, pathos, and so much more, Griffiths shows that animals are braided throughout the human psyche. An absolute fountain of fact, culture, and raw animal power!

Carl Safina, 'Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe'

Beautiful and important . . . Griffiths provides a deeply personal and intelligent account of the vital importance of having animals in our lives, and in our world

Dr Hannah Burgon, author of 'Equine-Assisted Therapy & Learning with At-Risk Young People'

Essential reading . . . When we figure out how to live compassionately alongside animals, we will resolve our human problems . . . That is no easy task, but after reading Griffiths’s wonderful book, it is at least an easy choice

Dr Alex Lockwood, author of 'The Pig in Thin Air'

‘Jay Griffiths is an artist, and this book is poetry – buzzing with courage and honesty. How Animals Heal Us is wonder and grief combined, speaking passionately to vibrant ways of being, and vibrant possibilities for the future . . . It is a true visionary work

Laura Coleman, author of 'The Puma Years'

An exhilarating epic journey through the zoological kingdom . . . This encyclopaedic account of what we owe our fellow animals is humbling. It fired my imagination again and made me see our companions through Griffiths’s fresh and compassionate eyes

Gwyneth Lewis, author of 'Nightshade Mother'

Pet-owners and animal-lovers instinctively know that animals heal. This book offers the evidence, drawing widely on scientific discoveries, history, and Indigenous knowledge. 
 
We meet a pot-bellied pig who saved her owner's life, lions who guarded a girl from kidnappers, dolphins and whales rescuing people in danger, and dogs who can smell cancer and phone the Emergency Services. 
 
Animal sounds, from insects to birdsong and the purring of cats, are directly medicinal and their presence can heal the pain of loneliness. Animals, including donkeys, can be natural therapists for the hurt psyche, alleviating trauma, fear and depression. 
 
In this original, revelatory and exuberant book, Jay Griffiths explores how animals can have a role in every level of healing, from the individual to the collective, guiding us in how we might create societies that are healthier, fairer and kinder. Wolves may be teachers of ethics; monkeys and dogs can object to unfairness and bees take collective decisions. Animals are irresistible medicine for a healthy culture, animating the arts with spectacular vitality and verve, as poetry knows. 
 
Open-hearted, playful and wise, How Animals Heal Us puts animals at the heart of a restorative vision of health.

Jay Griffiths

Praise for How Animals Heal Us

Evocative and heart-warming, this brilliantly researched book is joyful, generous and wise in equal measure, and always written with spirit and flair

Marvellous, urgently important and compellingly readable . . . A surging, deeply resonant hymn to the joys of entanglement with the more-than-human world

Animal magic in Jay Griffiths’s uniquely beautiful voice. Facts have never been so lovingly told

Evocative and heart-warming, this brilliantly researched book is joyful, generous and wise in equal measure, and always written with spirit and flair

Marvellous, urgently important and compellingly readable . . . A surging, deeply resonant hymn to the joys of entanglement with the more-than-human world

Animal magic in Jay Griffiths’s uniquely beautiful voice. Facts have never been so lovingly told

Evocative and heart-warming, this brilliantly researched book is joyful, generous and wise in equal measure, and always written with spirit and flair

Marvellous, urgently important and compellingly readable . . . A surging, deeply resonant hymn to the joys of entanglement with the more-than-human world

Animal magic in Jay Griffiths’s uniquely beautiful voice. Facts have never been so lovingly told

Books by Jay Griffiths

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