How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying by Frank Hyman

How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying

by Frank Hyman

With the surging interest in foraging for mushrooms, those new to the art need a reliable guide to distinguishing the safe fungi from the toxic. But for beginner foragers who just want to answer the question “Can I eat it?”, most of the books on the subject are dry, dense, and written by mycologists for other mycologists. Frank Hyman to the rescue! How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying is the book for anyone who walks in the woods and would like to learn how to identify just the 29 edible mushrooms they’re likely to come across. In it, Hyman offers his expert mushroom foraging advice, distilling down the most important information for the reader in colorful, folksy language that’s easy to remember when in the field. Want an easy way to determine if a mushroom is a delicious morel or a toxic false morel? Slice it in half – “if it’s hollow, you can swallow,” Hyman says. With Frank Hyman’s expert advice and easy-to-follow guidelines, readers will be confident in identifying which mushrooms they can safely eat and which ones they should definitely avoid.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying is a well written and clear field guide to foraging 29 edible mushrooms written by Frank Hyman. Due out 12th Oct 2021 from Storey, it's 256 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a layman accessible guide to foraging mushrooms and includes what to look for and (just as importantly) what to avoid. Additionally, it presents the information in an appealingly direct way with a lot of humor and definitely doesn't take itself to seriously.

The book's introduction covers what mushrooms are botanically, the different types of fungi to be found and how they interact with their environment as well as what types of trees they grow with/on, identifying structures, and how and where to find them (without dying). There is a definite emphasis on safety in identifying, handling, storing, using, and eating the foraged fungi. It actually contains one of the better food safety discussions I've seen.

Graphically the book is full of clear color photos which will help with ID and location. The field guide sections contain many color photos of each species including closeups and at different stages of development. The author also does a good job of explaining the *differences* between look-alike species to help with positive ID to sort out the edible ones from the harmful ones. Each entry includes the name, the binomial (Latin) name (including an English translation of the Latin), common name(s), identifying descriptions, look-alikes, and uses including some taste descriptors.

Five stars. Witty and useful, with clear and specific directions. This would be a good selection for library acquisition, smallholders, self-sufficiency folks, gardening and foraging readers, and similar.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 6 September, 2021: Finished reading
  • 6 September, 2021: Reviewed