Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Very useful in its own rite March 10, 2008
Overall, this book is great for the beginner. It includes great color photographs of every mushroom covered. Though it contains only 180 species of mushrooms across North America, it is still a great field guide for the beginner. The book also contains a very easy and clear-cut method for classifying the mushrooms that you found. It is definitely good classification and identification practice for the beginner. Overall, it is a good field guide with nice color pictures.
 Good November 11, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a good book on identifying common mushrooms but please be aware that you cannot learn to truly do this without learning from an expert--either someone who has extensive field training under an expert or is an accomplished academic in the area themselves. My training came from the late great, amateur mycologist, Herb Saylor, and also the eminent professor, Dr. Harry Thiers. I took all of Dr. Thiers's mycology classes back in the early 80s before he retired, and it was an honor and a priviledge to study under him (although I was a psychobiology major, I wanted to learn something about botany and mycology). I have many good general mycology field guides in my library but none are a substitute for an experienced expert. That having been said, Miller covers many of the important species in this book, although for brevity's sake many less common species were omitted. All in all a decent field guide if you remember never to eat anything you are not absolutely sure of. Remember, "When in doubt, throw it out."
Very Worthwhile Mushroom Guide October 21, 2007
We are amateurs who like to take pictures and identify as many MR/fungi as we can. We own several other guides. This one is very good, and well worth adding to your reference collection. Many excellent color photos. Good Index and Identification Key. This book also has something no other guide has: a "guaranteed binding". I wish they all were like this, because most of our other MR and Wildflower guides have pages falling out of them after a year or more use. Really good value for the price as well.
 Not Practical for the Common Hiker January 6, 2007
10 out of 25 found this review helpful
This book has three fatal flaws that should prevent it from being in the library of any person without formal training in botany and/or mycology:
Flaw #1: Exclusive use of scientific names (Latin). Common names get only a passing mention and are often not included in the index.
Flaw #2: Identification key is based upon spore printing. The ID key for this book requires spore printing for most mushrooms as a first step. This requires removing the fruiting body, e.g. picking the mushroom just to ID it. Except for purposes of consumption it is illegal to harvest mushrooms in most U.S. National Parks. This book should be illegal too. I hate following in the footsteps of people who harvest mushrooms for purpose of identification. There is nothing more annoying than to discover the sole specimen on an entire hiking trail has already been taken/picked/cut/spore-printed by some inconsiderate hiker. Books like this one which encourage such behavior have no place in our society.
Flaw #3: The book doesn't include the "lower order" of fungi such as Slime Molds and Encrusting Fungi. In my part of the world the Slime Molds and Encrusting Fungi are among the most prolific and interesting of all fungi. The book is worthless to me for identification of those.
Don't buy this book if you feel as do I that harvesting mushrooms for the simple purpose of identification is not an Eco-friendly behavior.
Practical field guide and interesting read August 26, 2006
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
Reviewed by Juanita Watson for Reader Views (8/06)
"North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi" is a comprehensive field guide that features most of the fungi one may encounter in the United States and Canada. This field guide is part of "A Falcon Guide" series and is a necessary asset to the library of any wild mushroom, or edible plant disciple.
"North American Mushrooms" is authored by the husband/wife team of mushroom enthusiasts. The Miller's have a long and extensive history in the world of fungi - they have worked all over North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Asia, and recently have carried out their field work in Biodiversity studies in the Greater Antilles and Belize. Orson is a Professor Emeritus of Botany and curator of Fungi from Virginia Tech, and is one of the leading mycologists in the United States. His wife, Hope, has authored a wild mushroom cookbook, taught classes, and supports Orson's work in the field. Basically, these people live and breathe mushrooms.
This comprehensive book has beautiful pictures, easy to understand keys, detailed drawings, interesting fungi information, listings of toxins, and useful information on habitat. This is not only a practical field guide but an interesting read into the world of wild mushrooms. In the wide range of selections available in the genre of field guides, I would recommend "North American Mushrooms" along with a couple area specific resources to round out a definitive package.
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