Mushroom

A rhythmic foray into the world of an inscrutable and wondrous organism.

This book goes beyond mushrooms as a pasta ingredient or trendy coffee alternative to present them as the firmament for life as we know it. They are enablers of mystical traditions, menders of minds lost to depression, and symbols of inexplicable growth and excruciating misery. But it acknowledges, too, that this firmament only exists because of death and rot.

By rummaging through texts in philosophy, literature, medicine, ecology, and anthropology, Sara Rich confirms what the forager has long known: mushrooms are to be revered. They are powerful entities that both create and destroy—and thrive on both.

This book is the latest in the Object Lessons series. Published in association with The Atlantic, it explores the hidden lives of ordinary things and what they can teach us about ourselves and the modern world.