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Bibliography
This bibliography consists primarily of books I own or am familiar with, but a few others with reputations that precede them may find their way here. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you attempt to identify wild mushrooms or plants from field guides without the requisite knowledge and then consume them, please make sure your will is current.
Mushroom Field Guides
Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America by David W. Fischer and Alan E. Bessette (1992). I like the way the book is organized.
Field Guide to North American Mushrooms by Gary H. Lincoff (1981). The first mushroom book I would buy if I lived in North America east of the Rockies . If you ever have a chance to see a live Lincoff performance, I highly recommend it.
Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America by Kent H. McKnight and Vera B. McKnight (1987). This husband-wife team has moved beyond this life, but the work is superb, especially Vera’s illustrations (that’s right, no photographs). It’s interesting how sometimes a sketch can be better than a photo for identification purposes.
Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic by Bill Russell (2006). Quite a bit of information about 100 species of mushrooms found in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic. It is probably the second mushroom book I would buy if I were just starting my collection and lived in this region, but I would always buy the Lincoff book first.
Mushroom Pocket Field Guide by Howard E. Bigelow (1974). Not much and probably out of print, but the photos are nice and it’s cheap, cheap, cheap. Or was.
Maitake Magic by Harry Preuss and Sensuke Konno (2002). I don't know anything about this book, but there are book reviews online. It appears to be limited to one medicinal mushroom. However, it is cheap enough in paperback and used copies are available at this time.
Mushrooms and Truffles of the Southwest by Jack S. States (1990). You thought there were no mushrooms in the desert?
Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora (1986). The first mushroom book I would buy if I lived west of the Rockies .
The Mushroom Hunter’s Field Guide by Nancy Smith Weber and Alexander H. Smith (1996). Don’t know this work, but the names are big in the mycology field.
Mushrooms of North America by O.K. Miller Jr. (1977). I met Orson Miller when he was alive, but I don’t really know his work. I know the students he trained that I have met are very competent.
Simon & Schuster’s Guide to Mushrooms by Giovanni Pacioni and Gary Lincoff (1981). This book is better suited to Europe than the US. I do not really have much information about field guides on other continents.
A Field Guide to Southern Mushrooms by Nancy Smith Weber and Alexander H. Smith (1988). I use it down here in the Land of Cotton . Or is it the land of genetically-modified cotton seeds sold by oligopoly seed giants?
North American Mushrooms by Dr, Orson K. Miller Jr. and Hope H. Miller (2006). New book. Orson Miller, a noted academic mycologist at Virginia Tech, died last year.
Wild Mushrooms of Telluride by Linnea Gillman, et al. (1996). Very interesting if you can get your hands on it, but it’s pretty habitat specific.
Other Mushroom Books
All That the Rain Promises and More... by David Arora (1991). OK, but his big book is better.
Healing Mushrooms by Georges M. Halpern (2007). Eight medicinal mushrooms and a discussion of medicinal mushroom usage.
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets (2005). If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If you have a mushroom business, everything looks like… Paul Stamets is very knowledgeable and well worth reading, but a crusader is a crusader.
One Thousand American Fungi: Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi: How to Select and Cook the Edible: How to Distinguish and Avoid the Poisonous by Charles McIlvaine (1973). I haven’t read this one either, but Jon Ellifritz calls him “Iron Guts” McIlvaine.
Wild Plant Field Guides
I’m not as up to date on these as I should be.
Edible Wild Plants by Lee Allen Peterson (1977). Perhaps newer editions exist.
Other Books on Wild Plants and Cultivation
Ginseng, Goldenseal & Other Woodland Medicinals by W. Scott Persons and Jeanine M. Davis (2005). Lot of useful material and references packed in. They’re wrong about the habitat ramps require, but nobody bats 1.000.
Ethnobotanical and Plant Healing Books
Plant Spirit Medicine: The Healing Power of Plants by Eliot Cowan (1995). A bit New Agey, but well worth reading.
Not About Plants or Mushrooms but Worth Reading
On Thinking Institutionally by Hugh Heclo (2008). Hot off the press in June 2008. Listed as a political science book, but it is more philosophy than politics. It's not as easy of a read as it might seem, but it is well worth the effort.
Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City by Michael Lerner. Since fungi are required to convert sugar to alcohol, technically the book could be listed as a "mushroom book." I have not read it, my current reading list being way to long as it is, but I did attend a lecture by the author. If his book is even half as good as his presentation, it's well worth reading.
Please check the links below for more books.
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