Giant Polypores & Stoned Reindeer: Rambles in Kingdom Fungi

by Lawrence Millman

In Giant Polypores & Stoned Reindeer, author-mycologist Lawrence Millman visits every point of the compass in search of rare or simply weird fungi. In his own New England, he discovers a species thought to be extinct for the last 100 years; and in Siberia, he finds a mushroom that may or may not have inspired the invention of Santa Claus. In the words of Britt Bunyard, editor of Fungi, the book is “insightful, imaginative, brilliantly-written, and sometimes downright hilarious.”

Genres: Nature

156 pages, Paperback

Published September 28, 2013

About the author

I've written 16 books, including such titles as Last Places, Our Like Will Not Be There Again, A Kayak Full of Ghosts, Hero Jesse, and Fascinating Fungi of New England. I've also explored remote areas in East Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. I'm a Fellow of the prestigious Explorers Club and, in my mycological capacity, past president of the A.S.S. (American Stinkhorn Society).

And here's the most recent news: In January 2017, St. Martin's will be publishing my latest book, At the End of the World: A True Story of Murder in the Arctic. Not only does the book detail a series of murders in the name of religion in 1941 among the (surprise!) Inuit, but also it discusses how digital technology is turning our species into robots.

Reviews

[Bingustini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giant Polypores & Stoned Reindeer can at times feel unorganized and disjointed. These are, as the subtitle indicates, rambles. At first I found this a little jarring, and when I started reading "Summit Fever" I got angry because of how unrealistic and odd the story felt, but the ending made me laugh, and after that point in the book, the jumps in topic, tone, and content started feeling a lot more engaging and a lot more natural.

Ultimately, that's what gives Giant Polypores & Stoned Reindeer a lot of its charm. The titular topics are not related except through kingdom fungi and Lawrence Millman's experiences with them which belies the sense of adventure and exploration imbued in the text. After reading one chapter, you have only the title of the next one to help you predict what's coming. Even within stories, Millman makes some dramatic shifts. For me, this dynamism was one of the strongest aspects of the book and gave a sense of whimsy even when maintaining a focus on more technical bits of mycology.

If you aren't well-versed in fungi, this will be a much slower read. Millman refers often to structures and organisms well outside of everyday speech. The glossary, while sometimes useful, is lacking, and you'll likely want a smartphone or laptop handy while reading it to look up some of the specific fungi mentioned. If looking up fungi sounds unappealing to you, you can safely skip this book, but if that's how you spend any portion of your free time, I would strongly recommend it. Despite occasional jargon, this is not a dense book. Millman writes narratives rather than purely scientific articles, and although the quality of writing can be a bit varied, the off-the-cuff feel of these "rambles" will be a delight for any mycophile.

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems to be a collection of articles from mushroom zines. It’s all as strange as the title and lots of geeky fun. I would have appreciated more pictures of the polypores and a bigger glossary, but I guess this isn’t really for newbies like me. As I got near the end, I went to the library and borrowed a bunch of books about fungus. That is a sure sign a book is good: when it makes me want to read more.