All That the Rain Promises and More: A Hip Pocket Guide to Western Mushrooms

This is a super cool book. Super easy to follow. Easy to find what you need. The pictures are very helpful. It is also the perfect size, slides perfectly in the side pocket of my backpack.

As many reviewers before me have stated, this is a great field guide--it's got a good key, great pictures, and is accessible to pretty much anyone with a grasp of the English language. The author's capricious sense of humor makes it a pleasurable read (that's not him on the cover), and his passion for the subject is infectious. I live in the desert, and within a day of getting it delivered I was scrabbling through the nearest empty lot, trying to find any sign of Desert Shaggy Manes and Torqs pushing through the topsoil (even though it hadn't rained in over a month). Just this weekend we were up hiking in the nearby mountains, and came across two gigantic mushrooms (well, a polypore and a conk, to be more precise). I was able to identify both of them within a minute of looking into the book (verifying the ids when I got home). Because the author chose to cover the mushrooms one most commonly encounters, this book offers the greatest chance of being useful out in the field. Besides that, there's a lot of practical advice that is quite helpful. I highly recommend this book!

I just got my second copy of this book, and I was noticing in the reviews there are a lot of people criticizing the method of identification that this book uses. And they may very well have valid points. I merely wish to say that the first time I was able to go mushroom hunting, in a mushroom-rich environment with this book, I was able to identify every mushroom I found with surprising ease, and that was a delightful experience. I even took home every mushroom I was able to identify that was recommended for flavor and cook them up and tried them out and it was great and I did not get sick. Also don't being completely honest I love having a book this weird on my shelf, great cover.

Great book full of information. The picture and descriptions are great.

This is my favorite mushroom book! David is a gem among mycologists and a very entertaining read! I also own Mushrooms Demystified, which I recommend to more advanced mycofolk.

I like all the photos and information about this book. The one complain, I somehow got a copy where pages 73-96 ate located between 48-49. Which leaves me with a section were it goes from 72 to 97. Still good book. I look forward to reading it so I can learn a few things.

This book is the penultimate for foraging wild shrooms. I spent years researching and everything and every skilled person in my region, told me to get a copy of this, specific book. That is legit all i want to say because if you get this book and don't eat random shrooms without asking for a second opinions IRL, you'll be fine and learn tons.

Fun and informative. A good addition to a naturalists library. All mushrooms are edible, some only once.

A must have mushroom book. Great for beginners, shows a wide variety of species, as well as how to identify. Well formatted so it's not chunky blocks of text, photos to go along with as well as anecdotes, ways to cook, and tips. Size is perfect to fit in a bag, not too small that the text is hard to read and not too heavy.

Un libro que no sólo es una muy buena guía de campo, también es divertido. Lo disfruté mucho.

Short, witty and entertaining. A handy guide written by mushroom enthusiasts for outdoorsy people. It covers some of the most common mushrooms of the northern hemisphere (also applicable in Europe) and contains many recipes and anecdotes. Will definitely brighten you up, may you need it or not.

Simply the best and funniest mushroom handbook there is. But for something a bit weightier, try Paul Stamets ...Mycelium Running. Wish these guys didn't all live in the North-West of the US. Is there a British equivalent that is as amusing (and useful) I wonder?

Awesome, very informative and hilarious!