Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms

by Eugenia Bone

Overview

In Mycophilia, accomplished food writer and cookbook author Eugenia Bone examines the role of fungi as exotic delicacy, curative, poison, and hallucinogen, and ultimately discovers that a greater understanding of fungi is key to facing many challenges of the 21st century.

Engrossing, surprising, and packed with up-to-date science and cultural exploration, Mycophilia is part narrative and part primer for foodies, science buffs, environmental advocates, and anyone interested in learning a lot about one of the least understood and most curious organisms in nature.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609613242
Publisher:	Rodale
Publication date:	10/25/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	128,636
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Eugenia Bone is an author and a food writer who has been featured in numerous national publications. She lives in Colorado and New York City.

Editorial Reviews

…one of the most beguiling books I've read this year…While not quite a match in pithy summary to Basho, the Japanese mycophile and haiku maker, Bone deploys the precise, uncommon vocabulary of the best naturalists…[her] enthusiasm would prompt even the most languid armchair ecologist to take a new interest in the role played on our planet by mushrooms…[a] delicious, surprising and dizzyingly informative book.
—The New York Times Book Review

Miranda Seymour

“Mycophilia is the most engrossing, readable book about mushrooms and the science of mycology I have ever read. This is THE book to give to people interested in mushrooms, whether they are beginners, longtime mushroom hunters, or professional mycologists.” —Gary Lincoff, author of The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms

“Engaging trawl through the labryinths of mycophilia...lyrical and precise...Ms. Bone ends her odyssey elegantly, discovering mushrooms may be the most important--and most hopeful--ingredient of life on Earth.” —Wall Street Journal

“One of the most beguiling books I've read this year. A generous sprinkling of amateur photos only adds to the charm of "Mycophilia"...Weird details,combined with a flair for startling analogies, brighten even the most rambling passages of Bone's book...Set her on the hunt for fungi in the aftermath of a forest fire and Bone can make you shiver in the slovenly vacuum of a campsite she compres to a cold fireplace...Bone deployes the precise, uncommon vocabulary of the best naturalists. Bone's enthusiasm would prompt even the most languid armchair ecologist to take a new interest in...mushrooms...Each and every fungus contains properties that, as described by Bone, sound almost magical...Delicious, surprising and dizzyingly informative book.” —New York Times Book Review

“Earthy and honest...with good humor and clear writing.” —The Denver Post

“Mycophilia...will delight many readers...[Bone] makes a charming and witty tour guide through the vast world of fungi...Mycophilia is one of those books that can completely change the way we view the Earth, making us ever more conscious and even conscientious citizens.” —The Plain Dealer

From the Publisher