In the Company of Mushrooms: A Biologist's Tale - Hardcover

[In the Company of Mushrooms] is an eclectic and arcane account of mushrooms in history and folklore, of their biology and importance in the environment, and of the characters who hunt and study them. From the use of mushrooms in the political murder of Roman Emperor Tiberius Claudius, to species nicknamed Laughing Jim and the Train Wrecker, the book fascinates from cover to cover, and will be as accessible to the lay reader as to the professional microbiologist.

This is a delightful book, written with enthusiasm, passion and humour. Elio Schaechter, a microbiologist by profession is also a naturalist whose ability to tell a tale and at the same time impart scientific information through his anecdotal style of writing is very refreshing. This book (the text of which is interspersed with line drawings and which includes some striking colour photographs at its centre) would make an excellent gift (or personal purchase) for any naturalist, but will be of particular interest to the amateur collector of fungi as well as the professional mycologist. A gem of a book, representing excellent value for money.

Full of curiosity, taste, and surprise, these ebullient forays into the nature of mushrooms are more than warm and appreciative. They are an invitation to--nay, immediate membership in--the grand fellowship and company of mushroom hunters.

One of the most enjoyable books that I've read in the last few years...In the Company of Mushrooms is more than just a book by a mycologist; it is a wonderful tale of one man's love of mushrooms, intelligently written with style and humor. I can't recommend this book enough.

This book is a delightful foray into the world of fungi. Schaechter, a microbiologist, takes us on a tour of the world of mushrooms and mushroomers, serving up his insights, firsthand experience, and scientific expertise with a healthy dose of good humor. He leads us through field and forest, book shops and laboratories, demonstrating how mushrooms and mushrooming became his own hobby and passion. In the Company of Mushrooms is a book both for experienced mushroomers and for beginners--for those who have a hobby and those who are searching for one.

Schaechter succeeds admirably in making the fungi understandable for someone not versed in biology or genetics. Very pleasant reading.

An intelligent and delightful tour of the mushroom world. It serves as an excellent introduction to the mushroom microcosm, yet contains enough novel and insightful material to appeal to even the most jaded mushroom hunter or mycologist. I recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in nature.

[Schaechter] covers the whole mushroom: biology and life history, common wild and cultivated species, clubs and collecting, eating, and hallucinogenic and poisonous mushrooms. The author enthusiastically entertains and informs the reader with his worldwide experiences as a mushroom gatherer and gourmet and as a consultant to the Boston Poison Center...Not a detailed field guide, cookbook, or textbook, this work is an excellent choice for the curious but perhaps biology-deficient reader who would like to know a little more about mushrooms.

[An] engaging book.

A wonderful book by an amateur in the best meaning of the word. Schaechter makes a convincing case for E.O. Wilson's biophilia hypothesis--the suggestion of an inborn affinity human beings have for other forms of life. This book is not a field guide on how to distinguish edible from poisonous mushrooms; it is filled with stories about fungi and the people who study them (as he reminds us, story and history derive from the Greek work for 'learning by inquiry').

An enthusiastic journey through mushroom lore and science.

'Crimini!' I exclaimed, halfway through this charming story of one man's love affair with mushrooms. 'Fungi aren't quite as yucky as I thought.'...[A]long with a wealth of lore about the natural history of fungi and the social history of the people who hunt them, Schaechter provides a lengthy list of clubs in the United States and Canada where amateurs can learn mycogastronomy firsthand. In short, here's a book where you're sure to find a good story with an uplifting morel.

Elio Schaechter's In the Company of Mushrooms is likely to stoke the ardor of mushroom lovers; it's certainly bound to increase their knowledge of this most intriguing plant.

[A] charming memoir...[In the Company of Mushrooms] is 'science writing' (usually an oxymoron) at its very best.

[A] funny and fascinating book.

Elio Schaechter has written an entertaining account of the arcane world of hunting and identifying wild mushrooms...Schaechter several times disclaims his book as a guide, and he is quite right. This book is not a guide to collecting mushrooms; rather, it is a guide to thinking about them.

Elio Schaechter's In the Company of Mushrooms is a delight from start to finish, a truly splendid account of an obsession. It's everything about mushrooms: their extraordinary biology, history, appearance, flavours, folklore, cuisine, gathering and more. A passionate work, admits Schaechter. Laced with stories and arcane knowledge (did you know that truffle-hunting pigs are all sows, chasing a sex hormone the fungus secretes?), this is a dream of a book.

We might slice them into a salad, savor them in a sauce, wonder at their power to intoxicate or poison, marvel at their multifarious presence in the forest--but few of us realize that mushrooms, humbly thriving on decay, are crucial to life on Earth as we know it. In this book a distinguished biologist, long intrigued by the secret life of fungi, reveals the power of these curious organisms--not quite animal, not quite plant--to enchant and instruct, to nourish and make way for all sorts of superior forms of nature.

In a style at once learned and quirky, personal and commanding, Elio Schaechter imparts the fascinating minutiae and the weighty implications of his subject--a primarily microscopic life form that nonetheless accounts for up to two tons of matter for every human on the planet. He shows us how fungi, the great decomposers, recycle most of the world's vegetable matter--from a blade of grass to a strapping tree--and thus prevent us from sinking under ever-accumulating masses of decaying matter.

With the same expertise and contagious enthusiasm that he brings to the biology of mushrooms, Schaechter conveys the allure of the mushroom hunt. Drawing on his own experience as well as that of seasoned pickers and amateur mycologists, he explains when and where to find mushrooms, how they are cultivated, and how they are used in various cultures. From the delectable to the merely tolerable, from the hallucinogenic to the deadly, a wide variety of mushrooms are covered in this spirited presentation.