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sortabadass's review
3.0
I live in Michigan, so a little West of this guide's intended range. I picked this guide because Michigan's lower Peninsula is ecologically similar to Pennsylvania, and I have been able to identify many species from this book.
Content
Russell laid this book out by season, which I think is brilliant. There are full color photographs at the end of each section, and the preceding pages contain the mushrooms' descriptions. At the end of the book are a few recipes involving wild edibles, which is a really nice touch. The guide only covers the most interesting macrofungi, which is either a good or bad depending on your burning desire to identify all those LBMs.
One thing that the book really lacked was a key; unless you know what you're looking for, the identification method required by this book is to flip though the photographs until you see something that looks kind of like whatever you just found growing. It is tedious, and -- because fungi bear fruiting bodies at different times of the year depending on the weather -- you may be forced to thumb from one season to the next to find your mushroom.
Format
I don't like the height of this book. It is 5"x8.5" and a little too tall to easily fit into a packed knapsack. The height doesn't really feel necessary either; the book's content's could have easily fit into a 7"x5" size. I also take issue with the material of the cover. Although it is technically paperback, this is the toughest, most inflexible paperback material I have ever come across. Depending on your preference, I guess this could be considered a good thing. For my money, though, I like a softer cover because it conforms more easily to the contents of my backpack when I try to cram it into an already-full pack.
Recommended Reading
For the amateur mycologist, I would recommend the following books in this order:
1. This one [b:The Pocket Guide to Mushrooms|3861315|The Pocket Guide To Mushrooms|Jean-Marie Polese|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328011025s/3861315.jpg|1419444]
2. [b:The Audubon Society Field Field Guide to North American Mushrooms|342137|The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms|Gary H. Lincoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320446766s/342137.jpg|332499]
3. A regional guide, like [b:Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic|130941|Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic|Bill Russell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171995826s/130941.jpg|126117]
Content
Russell laid this book out by season, which I think is brilliant. There are full color photographs at the end of each section, and the preceding pages contain the mushrooms' descriptions. At the end of the book are a few recipes involving wild edibles, which is a really nice touch. The guide only covers the most interesting macrofungi, which is either a good or bad depending on your burning desire to identify all those LBMs.
One thing that the book really lacked was a key; unless you know what you're looking for, the identification method required by this book is to flip though the photographs until you see something that looks kind of like whatever you just found growing. It is tedious, and -- because fungi bear fruiting bodies at different times of the year depending on the weather -- you may be forced to thumb from one season to the next to find your mushroom.
Format
I don't like the height of this book. It is 5"x8.5" and a little too tall to easily fit into a packed knapsack. The height doesn't really feel necessary either; the book's content's could have easily fit into a 7"x5" size. I also take issue with the material of the cover. Although it is technically paperback, this is the toughest, most inflexible paperback material I have ever come across. Depending on your preference, I guess this could be considered a good thing. For my money, though, I like a softer cover because it conforms more easily to the contents of my backpack when I try to cram it into an already-full pack.
Recommended Reading
For the amateur mycologist, I would recommend the following books in this order:
1. This one [b:The Pocket Guide to Mushrooms|3861315|The Pocket Guide To Mushrooms|Jean-Marie Polese|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328011025s/3861315.jpg|1419444]
2. [b:The Audubon Society Field Field Guide to North American Mushrooms|342137|The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms|Gary H. Lincoff|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320446766s/342137.jpg|332499]
3. A regional guide, like [b:Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic|130941|Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic|Bill Russell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171995826s/130941.jpg|126117]
bookwisp86's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed flipping through this and seeing what mushrooms grow around my town. Russell describes each mushroom as well as telling you where they grow, what look-alikes there are and if you can eat them or not. I also appreciate the fact that he pounds into your head that there is no one end all be all guide to mushrooms and that you should take your time and check many sources before you start to eat what you harvest. It could have used some better pictures for a few of the mushrooms, but all in all its a great little guide.
bdplume's review
5.0
I picked this off my shelf for some page-flipping light reading one evening, and wound up setting aside the novel I was reading until I finished the guide cover-to-cover. I don't know what better endorsement I could make for a field guide...who reads those all the way through like a piece of fiction?
The author does a wonderful job. The descriptions of 100 local species somehow don't get repetitive, no matter how many times a sentence begins "this mushroom." He brings just the right amount of wit to the table to complement a vast knowledge base. There are some wonderful sections about the general practice of mushrooming and how to avoid the more dangerous ones, and careful advice on how to proceed. Each species is accompanied by a "copycats" section, just to make things a little more clear. Oh, and most of the photographs were taken by the author himself.
He even does a good job in describing wide-ranging opinions of edibility and taste. This may seem minor, but it is a pet peeve of mine when things, food or otherwise, are held up as unassailably "good" or "bad" as if everyone has the same tastes. Instead of telling readers what to like, he uses phrases like "most people enjoy this taste, but I have known mushroomers who..." That little detail was for me the cherry on top of a wonderful treat.
The author does a wonderful job. The descriptions of 100 local species somehow don't get repetitive, no matter how many times a sentence begins "this mushroom." He brings just the right amount of wit to the table to complement a vast knowledge base. There are some wonderful sections about the general practice of mushrooming and how to avoid the more dangerous ones, and careful advice on how to proceed. Each species is accompanied by a "copycats" section, just to make things a little more clear. Oh, and most of the photographs were taken by the author himself.
He even does a good job in describing wide-ranging opinions of edibility and taste. This may seem minor, but it is a pet peeve of mine when things, food or otherwise, are held up as unassailably "good" or "bad" as if everyone has the same tastes. Instead of telling readers what to like, he uses phrases like "most people enjoy this taste, but I have known mushroomers who..." That little detail was for me the cherry on top of a wonderful treat.
sdiaz's review
4.0
This is my first mushrooming book so I can't really say how it compares with others that are available but I found it educational and appreciated how he made safety as much a priority as the enjoyment of collecting the mushrooms. Probably my biggest surprise was how enjoyable it was to simply read the book, the anecdotes and personalized perspective made merely choosing a random mushroom to read about something I found myself doing whenever I had a couple of minutes.
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