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Mushrooms: A Natural and Cultural History
Featuring a wealth of illustrations, a fungi-filled tour of the importance of mushrooms, from the enchanted forests of folklore to their role in sustaining life on earth.
Mushrooms hold a peculiar place in our we love them and despise them, fear them and misunderstand them. They can be downright delicious or deadly poisonous, cute as buttons, or utterly grotesque. These strange organisms hold great symbolism in our myths and legends. In this book, Nicholas P. Money tells the utterly fascinating story of mushrooms and the ways we have interacted with these fungi throughout history. Whether they have populated the landscapes of fairytales, lent splendid umami to our dishes, or steered us into deep hallucinations, mushrooms have affected humanity from the earliest beginnings of our species.
As Money explains, mushrooms are not self-contained organisms like animals and plants. Rather, they are the fruiting bodies of large—sometimes extremely large—colonies of mycelial threads that spread underground and permeate rotting vegetation. Because these colonies decompose organic matter, they are of extraordinary ecological value and have a huge effect on the health of the environment. From sustaining plant growth and spinning the carbon cycle to causing hay fever and affecting the weather, mushrooms affect just about everything we do. Money tells the stories of the eccentric pioneers of mycology, delights in culinary powerhouses like porcini and morels, and considers the value of medicinal mushrooms. This book takes us on a tour of the cultural and scientific importance of mushrooms, from the enchanted forests of folklore to the role of these fungi in sustaining life on earth.
Mushrooms hold a peculiar place in our we love them and despise them, fear them and misunderstand them. They can be downright delicious or deadly poisonous, cute as buttons, or utterly grotesque. These strange organisms hold great symbolism in our myths and legends. In this book, Nicholas P. Money tells the utterly fascinating story of mushrooms and the ways we have interacted with these fungi throughout history. Whether they have populated the landscapes of fairytales, lent splendid umami to our dishes, or steered us into deep hallucinations, mushrooms have affected humanity from the earliest beginnings of our species.
As Money explains, mushrooms are not self-contained organisms like animals and plants. Rather, they are the fruiting bodies of large—sometimes extremely large—colonies of mycelial threads that spread underground and permeate rotting vegetation. Because these colonies decompose organic matter, they are of extraordinary ecological value and have a huge effect on the health of the environment. From sustaining plant growth and spinning the carbon cycle to causing hay fever and affecting the weather, mushrooms affect just about everything we do. Money tells the stories of the eccentric pioneers of mycology, delights in culinary powerhouses like porcini and morels, and considers the value of medicinal mushrooms. This book takes us on a tour of the cultural and scientific importance of mushrooms, from the enchanted forests of folklore to the role of these fungi in sustaining life on earth.
199 pages, Hardcover
Published August 15, 2017
15 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas P. Money
22 books50 followersNicholas Money is a mycologist, science writer, and professor at Miami University.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 29, 2022
I found this book to be a really accessible and interesting overview on fungi -- I would have rated it 5 stars, if I did not have a few gripes with the author's style. Specifically, his colloquial and biased style.
A quote from the chapter on cooking mushrooms: "Many years ago I cooked a fresh bracket of dryad's saddle, Polyporus squamosus, using an elaborate recipe that called for saffron, garlic and a dozen other herbs and spices. The taste of the resulting stew is difficult to describe accurately, but might be revisited (at least in one's imagination) by simmering lumps of pork fat in cologne, with added flakes of mortuary soup for frothiness. Twenty years have passed since this abomination bubbled away in my kitchen and the memory still leaves me queasy. The mushroom must have absorbed some of the resinous flavor of the rotting tree stump on which it grew before decapitation. It took revenge on its executioner in the kitchen. An exorcist confronted with this brew would have cast their phial of holy water towards the pot, yelled, 'Get thee behind me!' and flown through the door. You will find recipes for dryad's saddle on the Internet. Do not trust them" (page 133-134).
Like... holy shit. I did not pick up a non-fiction book on mushrooms and expect a paragraph like that. I think it mostly comes off as amusing -- his quips throughout the book serve as amusement throughout what would otherwise be somewhat of a dry subject. But occasionally it passes through to what I would call some level of unprofessionalism and biased reporting. I noticed this a lot in later chapters. Specifically, his quips about kicking mushrooms seem... intense: "Let it be known that anyone who kicks mushrooms displays their ignorance of the nature of life and death. The goblins will get them in the end" (page 145). Is this really necessary? Was this sentence needed in a chapter about "Mushroom Poisons"?
I also find him to be extremely unfavorable towards those who believe mushrooms have medical values, or those who find religious experiences in hallucinogenic mushrooms. To be clear, I don't have any value staked in either of those claims -- I don't know if mushrooms have medicinal values, and neither does Nicolas P. Money, it seems, as his section on "Mushroom Medicines" spends the entirety of it bashing those who believe in Chinese Medicine and herbal remedies, while also admitting at the end that mushrooms like lions mane may have some compounds that may have a promising effect on nerve growth in brains. It's giving me a bit of the run-around. And, again, despite the fact I somewhat agree with him, it seems somewhat in bad taste to bash the traditional medicinal practices of a different culture. His assertions that Western medicine is the best and Chinese life expectancy only increased after Western medicine was introduced there seems not very nuanced at best interpretation, and perhaps slightly racist at worst.
On that same note, his atheist note at the end of the "Mushroom Hallucinogens" chapter also leaves me with a somewhat bad taste. "To an atheist, this supports the conclusion that all religious experience has a rather straightforward pharmacological basis. To the believer, magic mushrooms may be seen as facilitators that enhance one's awareness of God. The second response is reminiscent of the Aztec regard for psilocybes as flesh of the gods. Deities come and go with the decline and fall of civilizations, but the essence of faith remains the same. The most significant message offered by psychotropic mushrooms is that our complicated nervous systems are constructed from the same components we find in flies" (page 164). Again, I don't necessarily disagree with him here, but this does come across slightly as a tirade that Rick would make in Rick and Morty, or something like that. It's edgy. I found it kinda strange in a non-fiction book to read very opinionated statements such as this. I'm not very religious, nor do I think hallucinogenic mushrooms bring you closer to God, but it seems weird to alienate those people who do believe that in your text here.
I do think he makes good points, though. It's good to be skeptical, it's good to think critically of spiritual or medicinal claims made by people who don't know what they're talking about. There's direct tests that can be made in order to confirm claims made about mushrooms, and they should be done before people begin believing in such things. That's a fair statement. I guess I just don't approve of the decisive opinionated wording of this non-fiction book, and I believe certain quips do not need to be made. Nicholas P. Money is certainly a man of science, and I can certainly appreciate and respect that. It makes for a well-informed and interesting book, but it does not make for good and respectful text towards others with (perhaps misguided) different beliefs. Maybe I'm being too sensitive about this, but it just made me pause a little while reading and left a somewhat bad taste in my mouth.
Despite my complaints, I learned a lot and really enjoyed this book. It's a wonderful introduction on the natural history of mycology. It's easy to understand, full of beautiful images, and contains a lot of incredible information about fungi. I liked his voice, but I just feel like I needed a little less of Nicolas P. Money's opinions in this book.
A quote from the chapter on cooking mushrooms: "Many years ago I cooked a fresh bracket of dryad's saddle, Polyporus squamosus, using an elaborate recipe that called for saffron, garlic and a dozen other herbs and spices. The taste of the resulting stew is difficult to describe accurately, but might be revisited (at least in one's imagination) by simmering lumps of pork fat in cologne, with added flakes of mortuary soup for frothiness. Twenty years have passed since this abomination bubbled away in my kitchen and the memory still leaves me queasy. The mushroom must have absorbed some of the resinous flavor of the rotting tree stump on which it grew before decapitation. It took revenge on its executioner in the kitchen. An exorcist confronted with this brew would have cast their phial of holy water towards the pot, yelled, 'Get thee behind me!' and flown through the door. You will find recipes for dryad's saddle on the Internet. Do not trust them" (page 133-134).
Like... holy shit. I did not pick up a non-fiction book on mushrooms and expect a paragraph like that. I think it mostly comes off as amusing -- his quips throughout the book serve as amusement throughout what would otherwise be somewhat of a dry subject. But occasionally it passes through to what I would call some level of unprofessionalism and biased reporting. I noticed this a lot in later chapters. Specifically, his quips about kicking mushrooms seem... intense: "Let it be known that anyone who kicks mushrooms displays their ignorance of the nature of life and death. The goblins will get them in the end" (page 145). Is this really necessary? Was this sentence needed in a chapter about "Mushroom Poisons"?
I also find him to be extremely unfavorable towards those who believe mushrooms have medical values, or those who find religious experiences in hallucinogenic mushrooms. To be clear, I don't have any value staked in either of those claims -- I don't know if mushrooms have medicinal values, and neither does Nicolas P. Money, it seems, as his section on "Mushroom Medicines" spends the entirety of it bashing those who believe in Chinese Medicine and herbal remedies, while also admitting at the end that mushrooms like lions mane may have some compounds that may have a promising effect on nerve growth in brains. It's giving me a bit of the run-around. And, again, despite the fact I somewhat agree with him, it seems somewhat in bad taste to bash the traditional medicinal practices of a different culture. His assertions that Western medicine is the best and Chinese life expectancy only increased after Western medicine was introduced there seems not very nuanced at best interpretation, and perhaps slightly racist at worst.
On that same note, his atheist note at the end of the "Mushroom Hallucinogens" chapter also leaves me with a somewhat bad taste. "To an atheist, this supports the conclusion that all religious experience has a rather straightforward pharmacological basis. To the believer, magic mushrooms may be seen as facilitators that enhance one's awareness of God. The second response is reminiscent of the Aztec regard for psilocybes as flesh of the gods. Deities come and go with the decline and fall of civilizations, but the essence of faith remains the same. The most significant message offered by psychotropic mushrooms is that our complicated nervous systems are constructed from the same components we find in flies" (page 164). Again, I don't necessarily disagree with him here, but this does come across slightly as a tirade that Rick would make in Rick and Morty, or something like that. It's edgy. I found it kinda strange in a non-fiction book to read very opinionated statements such as this. I'm not very religious, nor do I think hallucinogenic mushrooms bring you closer to God, but it seems weird to alienate those people who do believe that in your text here.
I do think he makes good points, though. It's good to be skeptical, it's good to think critically of spiritual or medicinal claims made by people who don't know what they're talking about. There's direct tests that can be made in order to confirm claims made about mushrooms, and they should be done before people begin believing in such things. That's a fair statement. I guess I just don't approve of the decisive opinionated wording of this non-fiction book, and I believe certain quips do not need to be made. Nicholas P. Money is certainly a man of science, and I can certainly appreciate and respect that. It makes for a well-informed and interesting book, but it does not make for good and respectful text towards others with (perhaps misguided) different beliefs. Maybe I'm being too sensitive about this, but it just made me pause a little while reading and left a somewhat bad taste in my mouth.
Despite my complaints, I learned a lot and really enjoyed this book. It's a wonderful introduction on the natural history of mycology. It's easy to understand, full of beautiful images, and contains a lot of incredible information about fungi. I liked his voice, but I just feel like I needed a little less of Nicolas P. Money's opinions in this book.
October 20, 2018
Mushrooms: A Natural and Culturla History provides a lovely introduction to the world of mushrooms. This book is about mushrooms in particular, not fungi in general. This book is also not a field guide. Each chapter covers a muchroom theme; from mushroom superstition, science, function, evolution, experts, parasites, growing, cooking, poisons, hallucinogens, and mushroom conservation etc. The science is meticulous but not overwhelming and the anecdotes are relevant to the topic. The book includes numerous colour photographs and other illustrations. This was an enjoyable and interesting book about the various aspects of mushrooms.
October 7, 2019
Do you remember the 1999 X-Files episode "Field Trip", when Mulder and Scully go to investigate some mysterious deaths and end up trapped by a giant underground fungal colony that's trying to digest them? If not, I'm sorry for spoiling a wonderfully bizarre episode (even by the standards of the show). But that piece of TV sci-fi is actually pretty accurate on many aspects of the fungal kingdom. Mushrooms: A Natural and Cultural History gives us an overview of this supreme weirdness, from those underground mycelial networks, to the "fruiting bodies" of those colonies (most commonly known as mushrooms), to fungal sex, and how humans interact with these organisms, for good and bad.
The best part of the book might be the lovely photos of a diverse array of mushrooms, some with flamboyant colors and many with whimsical shapes. Money has the off-kilter humor of a seasoned mycophile, and his enthusiasm is catching - I think I might have turned myself from a simple mushroom eater into someone who looks for veils and does spore prints in her spare time. I don't know why he's so negative on the strength of mushroom flavor (has he ever tasted a proper xianggu?), but I definitely learned a lot about edibility in general. It can depend on what tree or substrate the fungus grows on, so even mushrooms widely considered edible can still upend your stomach. About poisons: less than 1% of mushroom species are truly poisonous, so it's less dangerous than we think, but still not a risk you should ever take. Don't eat wild mushrooms without the help of a professional!
The book also covers fascinating aspects of mushroom evolution and ecology, and the future of our fungal friends in the face of the threats of over-harvesting and climate change. These creatures - appearing overnight, often stark against the plants around them - remain mysterious in many aspects, and our knowledge of their potential medicinal benefits in particular are still limited. We should hope to preserve them as well as any other component of our ecosystem.
The best part of the book might be the lovely photos of a diverse array of mushrooms, some with flamboyant colors and many with whimsical shapes. Money has the off-kilter humor of a seasoned mycophile, and his enthusiasm is catching - I think I might have turned myself from a simple mushroom eater into someone who looks for veils and does spore prints in her spare time. I don't know why he's so negative on the strength of mushroom flavor (has he ever tasted a proper xianggu?), but I definitely learned a lot about edibility in general. It can depend on what tree or substrate the fungus grows on, so even mushrooms widely considered edible can still upend your stomach. About poisons: less than 1% of mushroom species are truly poisonous, so it's less dangerous than we think, but still not a risk you should ever take. Don't eat wild mushrooms without the help of a professional!
The book also covers fascinating aspects of mushroom evolution and ecology, and the future of our fungal friends in the face of the threats of over-harvesting and climate change. These creatures - appearing overnight, often stark against the plants around them - remain mysterious in many aspects, and our knowledge of their potential medicinal benefits in particular are still limited. We should hope to preserve them as well as any other component of our ecosystem.
February 6, 2018
When I was little, I used to spend the summer in a region at the foot of the Alps. Looking for mushrooms was one of the most delightful pastimes I shared with my brothers. Hunting mushrooms after a rainy day was the best moment for hiking into the woods, and I can still recall walking into the kitchen with a basket full of our favourite mushrooms and fragrant cyclamens picked under fir trees. Once the mushrooms had been washed, cut and cooked, the kitchen would be filled with a smell of risotto ai funghi porcini, a well-deserved reward for an early morning hike. Many years have passed since then, and now I occasionally buy mushrooms at the supermarket where the only mild excitement is picking the box with the best looking agarics or shiitake mushrooms. While experienced mushroom pickers would be proud to tell you everything they know about these fleshy fungi, this book comes from the authoritative pen of Nicholas P. Money, a professor of biology at Miami University and an expert on fungal growth and reproduction.
Money has authored several books where he shared his 30-years passion about fungi and other microorganisms. His writing is pleasant, witty and clearly inspired by his contagious enthusiasm for the filamentous creatures. Money is very effective at awakening a reader's curiosity for the cultural aspects of mycology - from ancient Aztec rituals with magic mushrooms to popular myths about mushrooms' medicinal properties. His science is meticulous and objective, and he is successful at guiding readers through the key elements of mushroom biology.
The sophisticated hydraulic engineering process through which mushrooms suddenly poke their heads out of the ground has fueled the imagination of story tellers and enriched local folklore. Truffles, which are a type of ascomycete, grow underground and their aroma provides a feel of excitement to many chefs who celebrate these delicacies in their recipes. Just a fraction of mushrooms are worth eating. Some mushrooms are poisonous, others are hallucinogenic; in both cases their psychoactive compounds seem to have been developed as a form of self-defense against predators, and despite the significant effects they have on human physiology, magic mushrooms still occupy an important niche in the thriving recreational drugs market. Scientists have described more than 70,000 species of fungi, but many more are thought to exist. Mushrooms can be spongy like the wood ear mushroom Auricularia auricula-judae, colorful and dangerous like the Amanita muscaria, or scary like the Clathrus archeri, which looks like a monstrous copy of a starfish. This book made me want to know more about them and about the pioneer mycologists who dedicated their lives to studying these organisms.
Addressed to nature enthusiasts, Mushrooms is a perfect introduction to the kingdom of fungi. Each of the 16 chapters is dedicated to a theme, ranging from Mushroom Science to Mushroom Superstition. Did you know that there is an Einstein of mycology? His name is A.H. Reginald Buller and his Researches on Fungi (Buller, 1909-1950) is considered the bible of mycology. Or that the largest organism in the world is a tangled web of hyphae that radiates for over 10 square km through a conifer forest in Oregon? Mushrooms addresses these questions and many more. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this little gem and recommend it to anyone interested in the world of mushrooms.
LITERATURE CITED
Buller, A.H.R. 1909-1950. Researches on fungi (7 vols.). London: Longmans, Green and Co.; vol. 7, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Money has authored several books where he shared his 30-years passion about fungi and other microorganisms. His writing is pleasant, witty and clearly inspired by his contagious enthusiasm for the filamentous creatures. Money is very effective at awakening a reader's curiosity for the cultural aspects of mycology - from ancient Aztec rituals with magic mushrooms to popular myths about mushrooms' medicinal properties. His science is meticulous and objective, and he is successful at guiding readers through the key elements of mushroom biology.
The sophisticated hydraulic engineering process through which mushrooms suddenly poke their heads out of the ground has fueled the imagination of story tellers and enriched local folklore. Truffles, which are a type of ascomycete, grow underground and their aroma provides a feel of excitement to many chefs who celebrate these delicacies in their recipes. Just a fraction of mushrooms are worth eating. Some mushrooms are poisonous, others are hallucinogenic; in both cases their psychoactive compounds seem to have been developed as a form of self-defense against predators, and despite the significant effects they have on human physiology, magic mushrooms still occupy an important niche in the thriving recreational drugs market. Scientists have described more than 70,000 species of fungi, but many more are thought to exist. Mushrooms can be spongy like the wood ear mushroom Auricularia auricula-judae, colorful and dangerous like the Amanita muscaria, or scary like the Clathrus archeri, which looks like a monstrous copy of a starfish. This book made me want to know more about them and about the pioneer mycologists who dedicated their lives to studying these organisms.
Addressed to nature enthusiasts, Mushrooms is a perfect introduction to the kingdom of fungi. Each of the 16 chapters is dedicated to a theme, ranging from Mushroom Science to Mushroom Superstition. Did you know that there is an Einstein of mycology? His name is A.H. Reginald Buller and his Researches on Fungi (Buller, 1909-1950) is considered the bible of mycology. Or that the largest organism in the world is a tangled web of hyphae that radiates for over 10 square km through a conifer forest in Oregon? Mushrooms addresses these questions and many more. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this little gem and recommend it to anyone interested in the world of mushrooms.
LITERATURE CITED
Buller, A.H.R. 1909-1950. Researches on fungi (7 vols.). London: Longmans, Green and Co.; vol. 7, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
March 3, 2023
Well written and factual account of the history of fungi. However, some topics were to briefly covered to gain a basic understanding without further research during reading. Overall, it provides a fascinating and unbiased perspective on the history and uses of fungi throughout history.
May 24, 2019
Not quite enough information for the mushroom-obsessed, but a very good overview, lovely pictures and the occasional goofy, funny remark in with the info.
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November 10, 2021This book is such an easy and interesting read. It's layered with a lot of humour -- I absolutely love this mycologist author because of his ability to mix learning with wit.
December 22, 2022
Accessible introduction to mushrooms, with the perfect sprinkle of dry humour.
October 15, 2024
A really interesting book for those who want to learn about mushrooms, though a little repetitive at times. Also some interesting anecdotes, and tales from history.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews