Book cover of Being Salmon, Being Human: Encountering the Wild in Us and Us in the Wild

Book description

Nautilus Award Silver Medal Winner, Ecology & Environment

In search of a new story for our place on earth

Being Salmon, Being Human examines Western culture's tragic alienation from nature by focusing on the relationship between people and salmon-weaving together key narratives about the Norwegian salmon industry as…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Being Salmon, Being Human as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Hailed as a “new genre of nature writing,” Mueller’s book is species-specific, dwelling upon the lives and deaths of salmon, yet the subject matter could apply to any creature that has become a commodity within late-stage capitalism. Mueller contrasts the Norwegian farmed-salmon industry and the increasing mechanization and reduction of living beings to things with wild salmon populations and Native people’s perspectives from the Pacific Northwest. Critically, he dares to take on the perspective of salmon, sprinkling memorable and moving vignettes throughout the book, helping readers imagine the world from a salmon’s-eye-view. This work of interspecies empathy is a…

If you love Being Salmon, Being Human...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like Being Salmon, Being Human?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Being Salmon, Being Human.

Browse books like Being Salmon, Being Human

Book cover of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
Book cover of Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
Book cover of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

186

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Being Salmon, Being Human, you might also like...

Book cover of Child of Vanris

Child of Vanris by Nikki McCormack,

At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, he’s lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, a…

Book cover of Almost Home

Almost Home by Howard Means,

Almost Home is a fictional retelling of the last great tragedy of the Civil War.

In late April 1865, almost 2,000 newly freed Union prisoners of war are packed onto the steamer Sultana, in poor repair and with a listed capacity of 376 passengers. Among them are four Indiana soldiers…

5 book lists we think you will like!