NEW! Trees, Truffles, and Beasts: How Forests Function
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By Chris Maser, Andrew W. Claridge and James L. Trappe. Because today's ecological decisions are tomorrow's consequences, every small effort makes a difference, but a broader understanding of our environmental problems is necessary to the development of sustainable ecosystem policies. The authors make a compelling case that we must first understand the complexity and interdependency of species and habitats from the microscopic level to the gigantic. Comparing forests in the Pacific Northwestern United States and Southeastern mainland of Australia, the authors show how easily observable species—trees and mammals—are part of a complicated infrastructure that includes fungi, lichens, and organisms invisible to the naked eye, such as microbes. Eminently readable, this important book shows that forests are far more complicated than most of us might think, which means simplistic policies will not save them. Understanding the biophysical intricacies of our life-support systems just might. 288 pages, softcover, with 42 color and 67 B&W illustrations.
BSTTB $26.95 
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Chasing the Rain: My Treasure Hunt
for the World's Most Beautiful Mushrooms
By Taylor Lockwood. Taylor Lockwood has done it again. Through pictures, he relates the diversity of life-forms found in this very large, but still relatively little-known kingdom. He tells the stories behind those pictures, shows us ones not yet published, and reveals something new. Taylor's anecdotes on photographing mushrooms in various climes and conditions chronicle the connection between people who hunt mushrooms all over the world. Developing friendships with colleagues and fellow mushroom enthusiasts around the globe has afforded Taylor a unique perspective on people, travel, and nature-from the ground up. With fungi as the common denominator, barriers of language, culture, and politics are erased. Through his lens, we are taken on a gentle journey that is sometimes exciting, oftentimes funny, and always close to the earth. Hardcover, 128 pages, with over 500 full-color photographs.
BSCTR $29.95
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Treasures from the Kingdom of Fungi
By Taylor F. Lockwood. "Simply stunning" is the best way to describe this offering from photographer and mushroom lover Taylor Lockwood. 128 pages of gorgeous full-color photographs of fungi from around the world, arranged into chapters with titles such as, "A Touch of Glass", "Small Wonders" and "Food of the Gods". Not an identification guide, this book is more the ultimate coffee-table book of fungi. A must-have for any mycophile's library. 128 pages, hardcover.
BSTKF $29.95
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The Glorious Mushroom
By Frank Spinelli. This is a photographic view of the mushroom in its natural environment. The specimens in the collection were photographed within three square miles of the author's home in the Catskill Mountains. In addition to the images, the text identifies species and includes information on botany, history, edibility, and the naturalist's experience. The central idea is to raise the reader's awareness of the natural beauty and fascinating qualities of the mushroom and to dispel and illuminate certain myths and fallacies surrounding mushroom culture. 12.9 x 9.5 inches, 184 pages, softcover.
BSTGM $35.00
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Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
By Toby Hemenway. Newly revised and expanded! Picture your backyard as one incredibly lush garden, filled with edible flowers, bursting with fruit and berries, and carpeted with scented herbs and tangy salad greens. The flowers nurture endangered pollinators. Bright-featured songbirds feed on abundant berries and gather twigs for their nests. The plants themselves are grouped in natural communities, where each species plays a role in building soil, deterring pests, storing nutrients, and luring beneficial insects. You have created a garden paradise. This book provides the botanical knowledge and technical expertise to take the principles of permaculture and apply them on a home scale, with simple yet comprehensive strategies for creating a self-sustaining ecosystem in your own backyard. 320 pages, softcover.
BSGG $29.95
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In The Company of Mushrooms: A Biologist's Tale
By Elio Schaechter. In this engaging book, Tufts University Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biology Elio Schaechter describes and elaborates upon his enduring obsession with mushrooms. In a style at once learned and quirky, personal and commanding, the author imparts the fascinating minutiae and the weighty implications of his subject—a primarily microscopic life form that nonetheless accounts for up to two tons of matter for every human on the planet. He shows us how fungi, the great decomposers, recycle most of the world's vegetable matter—from a blade of grass to a strapping tree—and thus prevent us from sinking under ever-accumulating masses of decaying matter. Part biology text, part naturalist's journal, part sociocultural reflection, In The Company of Mushrooms is an entertaining and thoughtful reveals the power of fungi to enchant and instruct, to nourish and support the ecosystem. 296 pages, softcover.
BSICM $15.95
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A Safe and Sustainable World: The Promise of Ecological Design
By Nancy Jack Todd. This well-researched and readable book is a first-hand account of the efforts of the New Alchemy Institute—a nonprofit organization formed in the late sixties to address the basic human needs of food, shelter and energy. Detailing the Institute's design and construction of two large, independent bioshelters-cum-research facilities, this book is full of practical ideas as well as lofty principles. A great text for the sustainability movement and an inspiring story. 232 pages, hardcover.
BSSSW $28.95
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Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds
In this lively book, George Hudler leads us on a tour of an often-overlooked group of organisms. Along the way the author stops to ponder the marvels of nature and the impact of mere microbes on the evolution of civilization. Nature's ultimate recyclers not only save us from drowning in a sea of organic waste, but also provide us with food, drink, and a wide array of valuable medicines and industrial chemicals. Some fungi make deadly poisons and psychedelic drugs that have interesting histories in and of themselves, and Hudler weaves tales of those into his scientific account of the nature of the fungi. The role of fungi in the Irish potato famine, in the Salem Witch Trials, in the philosophical writings of Greek scholars, and in the creation of ginger snaps are just a few of the many great moments in history to grace these pages. Hudler moves so easily from discussing human history to exploring scientific knowledge, all with a sense of humor and enthusiasm, that one can well understand why he is an award-winning teacher both at Cornell University as well as nationally. 264 pages, softcover.
BSMMMM $19.95
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The Triumph of the Fungi: A Rotten History
By Nicholas P. Money. Everyone is aware of the nineteenth-century Irish potato famine, but fungal diseases of many other crops have had similarly apocalyptic consequences. Today, coffee, cacao and rubber are threatened by fungi throughout the tropics. Indeed, fungi have carved their way through the ages, attacking every plant that we cultivate, constantly exploiting new hosts. Nicholas Money offers an intimate picture of these pernicious microbes, the scientists who have sought to control them, and the people directly impacted by the loss of forest trees and cash crops. 216 pages, hardcover.
BSTOF $29.95
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The Rainbow Beneath My Feet
By Arleen and Alan Bessette. This amazing reference guide by two prominent names in the world of mushrooms details the use of mushrooms as wool dyes. Includes descriptions and illustrations of dye mushroom species (including over 200 photographs), description of dyeing equipment, preparation of wool for dyeing, a color key for dye mushroom species, and more. 176 pages, softcover.
BSRBF $24.95
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Mushrooms for Dyes, Paper, Pigments & Myco-Stix™
By Miriam C. Rice, with illustrations by Dorothy M. Beebee. This book details the history, development, and science of mushroom arts. It both tells and shows how to extract substances from mushrooms that allow an artist to make textile dyes, paper sculpture or plain paper, watercolors and crayons for drawing. Beebee's pen and ink drawings appear throughout and color photos of mushroom arts accompany each section. Always eager to expand her knowledge of what she might find in natural substances, Rice has devised a way to turn mushroom-extracted pigments into drawing tools, the result being her invention and development of "Myco-Stix™". This book introduces this new drawing tool to artists everywhere. Mushrooms for Dyes, Paper, Pigments & Myco-Stix™ will delight, instruct, and inspire seasoned artists and newcomers alike. 162 pages, softcover.
BSDPPM $32.95
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Morel Tales
By Gary Fine. In this thoughtful book, Gary Fine explores how Americans attempt to give meaning to the natural world that surrounds them. Although "nature" has often been treated as an unproblematic reality, Fine suggests that the meanings we assign to the natural environment are culturally grounded. In other words, there is no nature separate from culture. He calls this process of cultural construction and interpretation, "naturework." Of course, there is no denying the biological reality of trees, mountains, earthquakes, and hurricanes, but, he argues, they must be interpreted to be made meaningful. Fine supports this claim by examining the fascinating world of mushrooming. Based on three years of field research with mushroomers at local and national forays, Morel Tales highlights the extensive range of meanings that mushrooms have for mushroomers. Fine details how mushroomers talk about their finds--turning their experiences into "fish stories" (the one that got away), war stories, and treasure tales; how mushroomers routinely joke about dying from or killing others with misidentified mushrooms, and how this dark humor contributes to the sense of community among collectors. He also describes the sometimes friendly, sometimes tense relations between amateur mushroom collectors and professional mycologists. Fine extends his argument to show that the elaboration of cultural meanings found among mushroom collectors is equally applicable to birders, butterfly collectors, rock hounds, and other naturalists. 336 pages, Hardcover.
BSMT $43.50
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Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard
By Nicholas P. Money. Internationally recognized mushroom expert Nicholas Money has written a fascinating and entertaining look at the elusive world of fungi, from brewer's yeast to Death Caps and beyond. Biology, history and humor are interwoven to form a truly remarkable book, with topics as varied as economics, mycological techniques and the history of mycology, and the ecological role of mushrooms. A must for anyone who marvels at the mystery of mushrooms. 224 pages, hardcover.
BSMBO $26.00
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Reflections on the Fungaloids
By Betty Williamson. This beautiful, 13 1/4 x 9 3/8 inch coffee-table book interweaves science, mysticism and art into a fascinating tapestry. The full-color illustrations of mushrooms are breathtaking, and are accompanied by taxonomic, historical and cultural data on the species depicted. Reflections on the Fungaloids is a valuable addition to any mycophile's library! 144 pages, softcover.
BSROTF $39.95
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Shroom: a Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom
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By Andy Letcher. Much stranger than the fictions it has inspired, the world of the magic mushroom is a place where shamans and hippies rub shoulders with psychiatrists, poets and international bankers. The magic mushroom was rediscovered only fifty years ago but has accumulated all sorts of folktales and urban legends along the way. In this timely and definitive study, Andy Letcher strips away the myths to get at the true story of how hallucinogenic mushrooms, once shunned in the West as the most pernicious of poisons, came to be the illicit drug of choice. Chronicling the history of the magic mushroom, from its use by the Aztecs of Central America and the tribes of Siberia through to the present day, Letcher takes a critical and humorous look at the drug's more recent manifestations. Informative, lively and impeccably researched, Shroom presents a unique and engaging study of this most extraordinary of psychedelic drugs. 384 pages, hardcover.
BSSCHM $25.95
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Teonanácatl: Sacred Mushroom of Visions
Edited by Ralph Metzner, Ph.D. Teonanácatl was the name given to the visionary mushrooms of Mesoamerica by the Aztecs, who used them in shamanic religious ceremonies for healing and divination. In modern times, the visionary mushrooms have become the focus of study into their psychological and spiritual benefits, and have been cultivated and collected worldwide by those seeking to expand their consciousness. In this inspiring work, Dr. Metzner has assembled a collection of writings by some of the most influential thinkers in the field, including John Allen, Timothy Leary, Terence McKenna and Paul Stamets. 293 pages, softcover.
BSTSMV $15.95
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The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants
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By Christian Rätsch. In this epic and exhaustive work, world-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist Christian Rätsch details the botany, history, distribution, cultivation, and preparation and dosage of more than 400 psychoactive plants. He discusses their ritual and medicinal usage, cultural artifacts made from these plants, and works of art that either represent or have been inspired by them. The author begins with full monographs on 168 of the most well-known psychoactives—such as Cannabis, Datura, and Papaver—then presents minor monographs on 135 lesser known plants. He also explores plants used by indigenous people that have not yet been identified by modern botanists as well as plants and psychoactive substances known only from mythological contexts and literature, such as ephemeron, kykeon, and soma. He offers a thorough discussion (including 20 full monographs) of psychoactive fungi, referred to in ancient times as the "food of the gods" and used by shamans in many cultures for entry to the spirit world. Dr. Rätsch concludes with an analysis of the chemical constituents responsible for plants' psychoactive powers. 944 pages, hardcover, with 645 black-and-white illustrations and 797 color photographs.
BSEPP $125.00
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The Sacred Mushroom Seeker
Edited by Thomas J. Riedlinger. This book is a tribute to R. Gordon Wasson, legendary figure whose work with psychoactive plants helped to revolutionize the field of ethnobotany. Features essays by such luminaries as Terence McKenna, Peter T. Furst, Gastón Guzmán, Albert Hoffmann, Alexander Shulgin, and many others. 304 pages, softcover.
BSSMS $24.95
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