"One of American Institute of Graphic Arts' Top 50 Books / 50 Covers of 2021" Lawrence Millman is a mycologist and author of numerous books, including Our Like Will Not Be There Again, Last Places, Fascinating Fungi of New England, and At the End of the World. He has done mycological work in places as diverse as Greenland, Honduras, Iceland, Panama, the Canadian Arctic, Bermuda, and Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he has documented 321 different species. Amy Jean Porter is an artist, illustrator, and naturalist. Her illustrated books include Of Lamb and The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook, and her artwork has appeared in such publications as McSweeney's and The Awl.
"This little book is big fun."-Michael Pollan
An illustrated mini-encyclopedia of fungal lore, from John Cage and Terence McKenna to mushroom sex and fairy rings
Fungipedia presents a delightful A–Z treasury of mushroom lore. With more than 180 entries-on topics as varied as Alice in Wonderland, chestnut blight, medicinal mushrooms, poisonings, Santa Claus, and waxy caps-this collection will transport both general readers and specialists into the remarkable universe of fungi.
Combining ecological, ethnographic, historical, and contemporary knowledge, author and mycologist Lawrence Millman discusses how mushrooms are much more closely related to humans than to plants, how they engage in sex, how insects farm them, and how certain species happily dine on leftover radiation, cockroach antennae, and dung. He explores the lives of individuals like African American scientist George Washington Carver, who specialized in crop diseases caused by fungi; Beatrix Potter, creator of Peter Rabbit, who was prevented from becoming a professional mycologist because she was a woman; and Gordon Wasson, a J. P. Morgan vice-president who almost single-handedly introduced the world to magic mushrooms. Millman considers why fungi are among the most significant organisms on our planet and how they are currently being affected by destructive human behavior, including climate change.
With charming drawings by artist and illustrator Amy Jean Porter, Fungipedia offers a treasure trove of scientific and cultural information. The world of mushrooms lies right at your door-be amazed! "This little book is big fun." "The cultural encyclopedia of mushrooms that we need right now." "A delightful collection of notes on a wide variety of mycologically related topics . . . . This is a book you can pick up for a few minutes, or get hooked into for an hour."---Susan Kayser, Fungus Friends "If your fungal forays have been limited to identifying toadstools, this A-Z of the fungal kingdom, written with profound knowledge and wry good humour, will be a revelation."---Phil Gates, BBC Wildlife "[Millman] illuminates some obscure corners of mycology for sure, but better, he brings a kind of feisty joyousness to the endeavor that makes the facts feel fresh. . . . As far as I am concerned, there can never be enough mushroom books out there. And I call this one a treasure."---Eugenia Bone, New York Mycological Society Newsletter "Fungipedia can be read in less than two hours and will prove useful to all. It would make a great stocking stuffer or gift for anyone with whom you may want to share your passion for fungi."---Dianna Smith, The Mycophile "
Millman is an excellent guide through a wide variety of topics in this relatively small but loaded package."---Ron Tracy, Mushroom: The Journal of Wild Mushrooming "Small, fun filled . . . quirky, fact filled book."---Steve Rutherford, Country-Side "Fungipedia is a fun, fast-paced, fascinating, fungi foray formatted on facsimile foolscap (OK, that last one about it being printed on facsimile foolscap I just made up, but the paper is indeed quite nice)."---Johannes E. Riutta, The Well-read Naturalist "A delightful little introduction to the world of fungi. . . . a whimsical 184-page A-Z miscellany that could be slipped into you
