Best audience for Mushrooms Demystified:
Experienced mushroom hunters and folks who want to learn more about mushrooms
Candace said: David Arora has written an epic work on mushrooms in Mushrooms Demystified. Most definitely not a field guide, as it’s far too large to carry into the field, this guide to mushroom identification is a must-have for the serious mushroom hunter. Arora offers an in-depth description of mushrooms and how they grow before diving into the nitty-gritty of describing over 2000 species of mushrooms. For beginners, the volume of information in Mushrooms Demystified can be overwhelming. The color photos are good, but there aren’t enough to make them a strong tool for identification and the black and white photos, though more ample, don’t offer enough detail to be a real tool for identification. That said, the photos are helpful to those who are versed enough in mushrooming to identify primarily from text, and the text is well-written for identification. Mushrooms Demystified is a jolly good read for those long winter nights I normally spend dreaming of the field and all the mushrooms I’ll find the next time I’m on the hunt.
Patrick said: This is the bible of mushrooming. There is so much information here. The descriptions of the mushrooms and their habitats along with their identification tips makes this book a must-have. I keep this one at home though when I go hunting because of its heft. It is good to have it to identify new fungi finds. The color plates in the book are well done and help to identify common varieties. Not all the mushrooms are pictured here and there are black and white photos that don’t help that much, but the overall description makes up for it. This book is an absolute must for mushrooming fans.
The Bottom Line: We give Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora two thumbs up.
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