The Measure / The Serviceberry

The Measure by Nikki Erlick is probably going to scare the shit out of me, but I can’t resist. This book became available through CLAMS on May 5, and like a moth to a flame, I clicked borrow.  When my teacher friend Elaine talked about it a couple of years ago, I was intrigued, but I was still working and didn’t have as much time to read as I do now. 

Earlier this year, I read Here One Moment, thinking that was the book Elaine had recommended. The premise of people knowing when they will die is similar but handled in very different ways. I have dissected that book on this blog. 

Naturally, all the books I have on hold are ready at the same time, and last night I began reading The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of the more well-known Braiding Sweetgrass. Probably, I will become either totally frustrated or wholly enlightened trying to read these two books at the same time. Let’s see how this plays out.

I’m still slogging away on The Measure but last night (5/21/25) I finished The Serviceberry. The book’s subtitle says it all really: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World. It’s appropriate that I finished reading this tiny book during a time when I’m losing patience with the clown in charge of our country and the posse of idiots he has surrounded himself with as they wreak havoc on the environment and the common good.

Turns out my dual reading experiment worked out nicely as I finished The Measure today (5/22/25). The books, despite being very different, are oddly complimentary. Both brought in elements of current events and the politics of humanity. 

The Serviceberry drives home the message of a gift economy and the importance of conserving natural resources. Kimmerer describes how traditional Anishinaabe values focus on “supporting the good of the people, not only an individual.” People today, especially those who are greedy and entitled, could learn from that perspective. The author continues, “Climate catastrophe and biodiversity loss are the consequences of unrestrained taking by humans. Might cultivation of gratitude be part of the solution?”

Here are some more of my favorite quotes.

“Recognizing ‘enoughness’ is a radical act in an economy that is always urging us to consume more.”

“Abundance is fueled by constantly circulating materials, not wasting them.”

The Measure imagines what happens socially and politically in a world where one day every adult receives a box with a string in it, the length of which correlates to each person’s lifespan. The divisiveness between the long-stringers and the short-stringers is featured as the book jumps between the perspectives of several different characters. I found this flip-flopping distracting, the lives of the characters uninteresting, and the message about diversity heavy-handed. 

The book did not scare the shit out of me as much as it made me yawn. Especially lines like this, very overtly comparing a politician to Trump. “Your uncle may be a son of a bitch, but at least he’s tough. He could actually get shit done. Plus, he’s brutally honest. You gotta respect that.” And, am I the only one who thinks the following is corny? 

#StrungTogether—A handful of journalists and politicians had already deemed it a “movement.”

Maybe #StrungOut would be more appropriate.