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shanaqui's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
Sara Rich's entry into the Object Lessons series, Mushroom, is another one which is more about the author and about ideas around mushrooms than about mushrooms in and of themselves. Mushrooms as metaphor, mushrooms in Rich's own life, and only sometimes mushrooms as mushrooms and what they're like.
Still, there are glimpses of what a mushroom actually is, as well as what it means to us, and there are short sections describing a handful of mushrooms you might find and how you'd prepare them to eat, and as such it felt a bit more grounded than some of the other Object Lessons.
That said, I wondered very much at Sara Rich's apparently unselfconscious juxtaposition of "my family's land in Kansas, which used to be a reservation" and her closeness with various Native American people. Your land, huh? You sure about that? You're just talking about something like animism (to simplify it a lot), and yet you think your family can own that land? Hmmm.
Perhaps there's explanations for all that in Rich's full life biography, but it jumped out at me as an oddness (meaning that Rich's life got very much in the way of the actual topic, mushrooms).
Still, there are glimpses of what a mushroom actually is, as well as what it means to us, and there are short sections describing a handful of mushrooms you might find and how you'd prepare them to eat, and as such it felt a bit more grounded than some of the other Object Lessons.
That said, I wondered very much at Sara Rich's apparently unselfconscious juxtaposition of "my family's land in Kansas, which used to be a reservation" and her closeness with various Native American people. Your land, huh? You sure about that? You're just talking about something like animism (to simplify it a lot), and yet you think your family can own that land? Hmmm.
Perhaps there's explanations for all that in Rich's full life biography, but it jumped out at me as an oddness (meaning that Rich's life got very much in the way of the actual topic, mushrooms).
caitsidhe's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I love these object lessons books, AND I'll read everything about mushrooms I can get my greedy little hands on. This is a nice combination of personal experience and basic mushroom information.
litwtchreads's review
4.5
This was a really fascinating book. Like all Object Lessons, this is part memoir, part cultural exploration of an object, in this case, a Mushroom, that we see all around us. I enjoyed reading this and think the author's writing style was well-suited to this subject. 4.5 Stars
kairosdreaming's review
3.0
*This book was received as an Advanced Reader's Copy from NetGalley.
This was my first book in the Object Lessons series. I didn't really know what to expect. The description makes it seem as if it takes mundane objects and reveals them in detail. And I guess that's what happened here, but maybe not in the way that I thought it would.
In Mushroom, Rich separates the story of the mushroom into two parts, per season, repeating seasons. The first part usually details some information on a particular mushroom, her experiences foraging it, and maybe some information on preparation/taste. The second part varies wildly; it ultimately looks at the mushroom through sociological/philosophical connotations.
I don't think this book is for the average person going in and reading about mushrooms. Trying to read it out loud was like doing a tongue twister. Lots of pretty, academic words jumbled into a mix. It bounced around so much as well, especially in those second parts. In one minute, we could be talking about nuclear fallout, in the next, the religious tendencies of Stamets. In other ways, the book seemed like a memoir of Rich's experiences. None of this is a bad thing, but again, not what I was expecting in a book presumably about mushrooms.
I will say that it had some nice imagery in it and the artist in me now has a few thoughts for creating. But overall, I'm not sure this was a great introduction into the Object Lesson series, if indeed most are about the objects themselves and less the writer.
Review by M. Reynard 2023
This was my first book in the Object Lessons series. I didn't really know what to expect. The description makes it seem as if it takes mundane objects and reveals them in detail. And I guess that's what happened here, but maybe not in the way that I thought it would.
In Mushroom, Rich separates the story of the mushroom into two parts, per season, repeating seasons. The first part usually details some information on a particular mushroom, her experiences foraging it, and maybe some information on preparation/taste. The second part varies wildly; it ultimately looks at the mushroom through sociological/philosophical connotations.
I don't think this book is for the average person going in and reading about mushrooms. Trying to read it out loud was like doing a tongue twister. Lots of pretty, academic words jumbled into a mix. It bounced around so much as well, especially in those second parts. In one minute, we could be talking about nuclear fallout, in the next, the religious tendencies of Stamets. In other ways, the book seemed like a memoir of Rich's experiences. None of this is a bad thing, but again, not what I was expecting in a book presumably about mushrooms.
I will say that it had some nice imagery in it and the artist in me now has a few thoughts for creating. But overall, I'm not sure this was a great introduction into the Object Lesson series, if indeed most are about the objects themselves and less the writer.
Review by M. Reynard 2023
acornsbooksandcoffee's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Mushroom is an interesting foray into mushrooms, philosophy, religion, and the human condition. Told over six chapters, Sarah Rich review the uses and history of a number of mushrooms while also exploring their cultural and philosophical properties. The writing style is very rhythmic and easy to read. Mushroom was very informative and got me thinking about the world around me and how everything ties together in ways that I don't usually take the time to think about.
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