All That the Rain Promises,
  and More...
   David Arora
  1991 Ten Speed Press Berkeley CA USA
   ISBN: 0898153883


A Hip Pocket & self-contained field guide for beginners hunting wild mushrooms from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast, from the deserts of northern Mexico to Alaska. With incredible photos, delightful poetry & irreverent, Renaissance mischief, plentiful mushrooms are found.

Sometimes we joke, as we watch the Fairy Rings (Marasmius oreades) appear after a rain, or catch a glimpse of an Artist's Conk (Ganoderma applanatum)in the autumn mists or stumble upon a stand of Morels(Morchella elata or angusticeps) that the only person in our family who has the patience to actually watch mushrooms grow, is our 89 year old Poppa.

When I first came to the Olympic Peninsula, I saw a poster tacked upon a library notice board, inviting all to join the local Mycological Club's Great Spring Hunt through forest & fields. When I got to the point of amassment I was amazed at the collection of jesters, artisans, gourmands & woodland elves, camouflaged by outer layers of normal, placid city denizens.

Having watched nothing as slow as mushrooms, forest duff or field slugs, I was, that first wet trek, thoroughly dispirited, empty-handed & quite unable to see anything unless it was right in front of my toes, & sometimes not even then! It was after I lived inside the forest, miles from paved roads, to & from which I had packed everything by wheelbarrow from the local, rough-hewn fire road, that I eventually began training my city eyes to the marvels of the forest floor.

I wish I'd had David Arora's hip-pocket guide to Western mushrooms at hand (it wasn't published yet). Nowadays, when I trek up the tree farm roads, scouting for likely berry patches, the elusive trillium colonies & whatever the forest grows, I take along All That the Rain Promises, and More... so that I may identify & enjoy the bounty offered.

As David Arora writes: "I used to think I needed the sun to have fun. Rain was an inconvenience, something to wait out, not wade in. The farmers needed it. I didn't. Rain meant I couldn't do things. It was the enemy of activity, the bane of beach barbecues, an imposition from above that didn't have the courtesy to call ahead.

"Mushrooms changed all that. Now when it rains, I can't wait to get out, to plunge into that pristine, misty realm of glistening freshness and fleeting fragrance to see what new wonders the earth has to offer."

Did you know there's even a condition called: fungophobia?
Did you know you can use mushrooms for dyeing fabrics & hair?
Did you know there's an annual Mushroom Festival in Telluride, Colorado?

Hats, masks, tales of memorable mushroom hunts, sweaters, armfuls of bounty, medicinal ideas, Chanterelle lore & so much more.

This is a wonderful book, even if you're city-bound & the only mushrooms you've ever seen are in the produce section of your local store, David Arora has a lively mind, a romantic turn of phrase & a serious passion.

Very well done!

More from David Arora: Mushrooms Demystified
(05/30/99)

Rebecca