Mothership

A Memoir of Wonder and Crisis

By: Greg Wrenn

Narrated by: Greg Wrenn

Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Professor Greg Wrenn likes to tell his nature-writing students, "The ecological is personal, and the personal is ecological." What he's never told them is how he's lived out those correspondences to heal from childhood abuse at the hands of his mother.

Weaving together memoir and cutting-edge science, Mothership is not just a queer coming-of-age story. It's a deeply researched account of how coral reefs and a psychedelic tea called ayahuasca helped Greg heal from complex PTSD—a disorder of trust, which makes the very act of bonding with someone else panic-inducing. From the tide pools in Florida where he grew up, to Indonesia's Raja Ampat archipelago and the Amazon rainforest, this is his search for wholeness when talk therapy and pharmaceuticals did little to help. Along the way, as his ecological conscience wakes up, he takes listeners underwater to the last pristine reefs on earth, and into the psyche.

Written with prophetic urgency, Mothership ultimately asks if doses of nature will be enough to save us before it's too late.

©2024 Greg Wrenn (P)2024 Tantor

Well-told, gripping and compelling memoir

It’s really well written and well read by the author. I liked it more than I anticipated.

I’ll disclose that I went to high school with the author hold him in high regard, though I knew almost none of what’s told in the book. I was hooked by his story as he comes to terms with abuse in his family and tells of his resulting struggles with addiction and depression to extremes. I think what I appreciated most was how vulnerably and openly he shares details of his story; I find myself drawn to those people courageous enough to tell the hard details of their life without shame or fear.

As the book continued, I was fascinated by his experiences with ayahuasca and the ways it changed his life. Neuroplasticity is possible, he shows us. I’ve been curious about the potential of psychedelics to enhance healing and growth, and I’ve known a few people who went abroad to take part in ayahuasca therapy retreats, but Mothership unveils the details about how it actually was and how it saved his life.

There’s a major portion of the book that serves as a messenger about the climate change—climate change which has already destroyed large amounts of coral reef around the planet. He sounds the alarm and shares enough data (along with what he’s seen personally in Indonesia) to wake me up to the urgency of this problem. But this portion of the book is also woven quite well into the story, because it’s based on significant parts of his life.

One thing I’ll add: the author does a great job telling a human story I can relate to, but I really appreciate that he’s also science-minded and values data when it comes to both ayahuasca and the dying coral reef. It just adds credibility.

I really liked this book. I think it’s well-written and well-read. I finished listening in about 5 days, which is quick for me, and only happens when I’m totally engrossed in a story.