The Complete Mushroom Hunter: An Illustrated Guide to Finding, Harvesting, and Enjoying Wild Mushrooms

If you've meet or seen the author before you may have your doubts. To say "odd" is a slight blurring of reality. He knows his stuff and can relate that information superbly. This book will coax you out of your safety zone and into the woods were a mushroom hunter belongs. Also the Oyster Recipe is pretty good so go enjoy yourself. This is a really well done guide. It gives a "brief" history on mushroom hunting which makes a good read. The book also covers what to take with you on your field trips for a more enjoyable hunt. There is a moderate amount of information and wonderful pictures for edible and poisonous mushrooms. There is a decent section in medicinal mushrooms. Here's a list of what's included: morels,truffles,chanterelles,black trumpets,tooth fungi,hedgehog,coral fungi,boletes,polypores,giant puffball,lobster mushroom,jelly fungi,agaricus mushrooms,oyster,honey,shaggy mane,mastutakes,shrimp russula,milk caps,blewits and bluefoot. There are a good amount of poisonous and psychedelic mushrooms covered with more wonderful pictures. The best part of the book is the recipes in chapter five. A great starter book for identifying and cooking safe mushrooms.

Bought it as a gift for friends new to wild mushroom picking. A great introduction to US edible fungus with excellent photography. Lincoff is a marvelous writer, extremely knowledgeable and really delightful in person. Makes a great coffee table book. Of course nobody should eat anything they gather without a really experienced person checking out their fungus. This book does point out a few of the safest edibles that are pretty no doubters. Beware the Blewits however--the only weakness of the book is the failure to warn about lookalike purple Cortinarius species that grow in similar locations at the same time of year and can only be positively identified as different by looking at the spores. The Corts include some species with slow poisons that can take weeks to take effect and can cause serious kidney damage so great caution is required before eating the otherwise choice edible Blewits.

I live out here in the old Pacific Northwest, where we have an overabundance of fungi. I bought this as a gift for a budding mycologist in the family, who put it on her wishlist. The pictures are large and detailed, and for the entries it does have, it has quite a lot of information. However, even a smaller pocket guide she owns has more information and entries on mushrooms both nationwide and here in the Northwest. The issue really is that many of the mushrooms found out there are NOT going to be edible, therefore the focus should be on identifying them (as the pocket guide does) and less on providing recipes for cooking them (as Lincoff's book does). Any mycologist going out on a foray is a) going to be looking for morels or another edible mushroom and b) trying to determine if the mushroom he or she just found is edible. This does not help you do that.

My husband and I took this book with us along our RV adventures through the Pacific Northwest. It has been invaluable and extremely informative! We picked shaggy manes in Northern California, and wild oyster mushrooms in Columbia River Gorge and Olympic Peninsula. The pictures are so helpful, and the descriptions are well written. We were able to identify most mushrooms, which was surprising because I didn't think the book would be so comprehensive. Highly recommended as a unique gift or coffee table book, or for the new fungi hobbyist!

Gary Lincoff has obviously been involved in mycology and everything mushroomy for a long time, and his book The Complete Mushroom Hunter: An Illustrated Guide to Finding, Harvesting, and Enjoying Wild Mushrooms, is a wonderful digest of all his knowledge put into a very enjoyable Guide. Touching on all of the important aspects of mushroom knowledge, this book encourages the novice to explore deeper into the wonderful world of mycology and, even if this is the only mushroom book they might own, be a safe and confident consumer of the most delicious and easily identifiable mushrooms that grow quite often very near our homes. I am very happy to have this book in my mushroom library!

I've found this book is good for quickly pointing out common mushrooms to others, when I can't get on the internet. But I doubt it will satisfy anyone seriously interested in mushroom hunting. We frequently see pictures of the ideal fungal forms, usually in cultivated conditions, which is less helpful than seeing the varieties of ways mushrooms can present in their natural habitats. I was hoping this book would be a little more comprehensive, at least more pictures showing different ways mushrooms can present, a bit more regional information & more details for identification. It's merely the latest addition to a long list of disappointing mushroom identification resources. It can be frustrating, for the beginner, to pick up a supposed, "mushroom hunting," reference book that is so simplistic, and familiarly disappointing for the avid hunter.

This book is exactly what I was looking for. The writing style is entertaining and informative. The photos and especially comparisons of safe and unsafe varieties are clear. I also like that there were multiple photos of some of the mushrooms, as they appear different in different environments. The recipe section was surprisingly varied and inspired. I have referred to it many times since purchasing it. I just wish it was smaller and easier to carry along in the saddle bags.

This is an excellent guide because it describes in detail what to look for in a safe mushroom, as well as the giveaways for a dangerous look alike. Its certainly not comprehensive, but if you're starting from scratch, this will open up at least another half dozen doable species for you.

Curti muito, aprendi muito com esse livro, pude melhorar meu vocabulário no inglês. Um ótimo guia para campo bem detalhado e rico em imagens e informações.

I am very pleased with my purchase of The Complete Mushroom Hunter. It's a beautiful book with lots of pictures and clear descriptions. I also love the little side notes and stories on each mushroom. The foraging stories bring me back to my favorite mushroom spots and wish I was there. I am only have 5 years experience with the whole mushroom world and from the start, I was addicted and still am. I especially liked the text on where to find particular mushrooms.

very helpful to not only identify a mushroom , but also how to hunt for it in likely spots lots of trivia I didn't know but very much appreciated. I learned to pick mushrooms with my mother when I was a child but this helps to complete my knowledge base. this is one book I can pass on to my kids I

I have waited quite awhile to buy a Mushroom Hunting book and as I read other articles on hunting the author of this books name came up often so I felt confident this book might provide insight that most general books don't. Ironically this book is the superficial kind I feared I might end up with. Its kinda like 'the idoits guide' series or at best aim solely at beginners who don't really want to get into mushrooms on a regular basis. Its more a coffee table book or a childrens how to on mushrooms. I'd look elsewhere for a more serious hunters guide book.

Complements my other books - some unique and useful information. Great photos, well organised.