Book Marks Bookclub: The Second Body by Daisy Hildyard

Join us this autumn for drinks and nibbles before we settle down to read a book selected by artist Manjot Kaur, exploring themes in our exhibition . We’ll be taking it in turns to read selected passages out loud together (for those who wish to) from which we’ll start off the conversation. You are welcome to join in with the discussion or just listen.

"Every living thing has two bodies. To be an animal is to be in possession of a physical body, a body which can eat, drink and sleep; it is also to be embedded in a worldwide network of ecosystems. When every human body has an uncanny global presence, how do we live with ourselves? In this timely and elegant essay, Daisy Hildyard captures the second body by exploring how the human is a part of animal life. She meets Richard, a butcher in Yorkshire, and sees pigs turned into boiled ham; and Gina, an environmental criminologist, who tells her about leopards and silver foxes kept as pets in luxury apartments. She speaks to Luis, a biologist, about the origins of life; and talks to Nadezhda about fungi in an effort to understand how we define animal life. Eventually, her second body comes to visit her first body when the river flooded her home last year. The Second Body is a brilliantly lucid account of the dissolving boundaries between all life on earth." - summary from Fitzcarraldo Editions

Tea, coffee, non-alcoholic drinks, wine and nibbles will be provided.

We are unable to provide copies of the book, so please do source your own copy from a public library or bookshop in advance of the event.

There are 15 places available.

Also check out other Exhibitions in London, Arts events in London.