Pending Plays > Books > Powerful Mushrooms – Book Review

Powerful Mushrooms – Book Review

Arden Skye02 mins
On the right the front cover of "POWERFUL MUSHROOMS AN ILLUSTRATED ANTHOLOGY", written by FEDERICO DI VITA and illustrated by FLORENCIA DIAZ. A range of different psychedelic-like illustrations around the title in the middle with a juicy bright green in the background. Left is the back cover with more mushroom illustrations, and text: "IMMERSE YOURSELF IN CULTURAL TALES, SCIENTIFIC REVELATIONS, AND VIVID PSYCHEDELIC VISUALS-A BOTANICAL MASTERPIECE THAT ENCHANTS BOTH THE CURIOUS AND THE CONNOISSEUR. EXPLORE THE SECRET LIVES OF SIXTY DIFFERENT FUNGI IN POWERFUL MUSHROOMS. Divided by taxonomy and healing properties, this elegant book also highlights historical anecdotes for readers to enjoy. All further exalted by strikingly colorful and kaleidoscopic images, this book is a pleasure to browse and will become a classical botanical treatise." Andrews McMeel PUBLISHING® www.andrewsmcmeel.com $16.99 U.S.A. ($22.99 Canada) ISBN: 978-1-5248-9560-0 51699 Printed in China Originally published by Vivida", a trademark property of White Star s.r.l. On the right the front cover of "POWERFUL MUSHROOMS AN ILLUSTRATED ANTHOLOGY", written by FEDERICO DI VITA and illustrated by FLORENCIA DIAZ. A range of different psychedelic-like illustrations around the title in the middle with a juicy bright green in the background. Left is the back cover with more mushroom illustrations, and text: "IMMERSE YOURSELF IN CULTURAL TALES, SCIENTIFIC REVELATIONS, AND VIVID PSYCHEDELIC VISUALS-A BOTANICAL MASTERPIECE THAT ENCHANTS BOTH THE CURIOUS AND THE CONNOISSEUR. EXPLORE THE SECRET LIVES OF SIXTY DIFFERENT FUNGI IN POWERFUL MUSHROOMS. Divided by taxonomy and healing properties, this elegant book also highlights historical anecdotes for readers to enjoy. All further exalted by strikingly colorful and kaleidoscopic images, this book is a pleasure to browse and will become a classical botanical treatise." Andrews McMeel PUBLISHING® www.andrewsmcmeel.com $16.99 U.S.A. ($22.99 Canada) ISBN: 978-1-5248-9560-0 51699 Printed in China Originally published by Vivida", a trademark property of White Star s.r.l.
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Really interesting and quite informative, even for its 1-page-per-fungus format. Mixed info about where and how it grows, whether it’s poisonous and how it can be used in the kitchen. Sometimes has history facts too. 

The illustrations are truly wonderful and mesmerizing.
However, they’re more fantastical than factual, while photographs only appear at the end and also very small. It would’ve been better if the photos and illustrations were on the same page or the photo icons in a corner of the info page. 

Otherwise a good book that would be cool to read in a café or during lunchtime at home or even restaurants. 

CriteriaScoresOur Score
Artistic Achievement1-53.5
Pacing1-54
Characters1-5–
Writing Style1-54
Originality1-54

Finale Grade

B

Left page is a psychedelic-like illustration of the fungi described on the right page. Text: "VISIONARY FUNGI. CLAVICEPS PURPUREA. ERGOT. Ergot is a fungus shaped like a black horn that grows on various cereals, especially rye, which is referred to as "horned" when infested. In the past, it caused epidemics of ergotism. In 1938, by synthesizing ergot's alkaloids, Albert Hofmann invented LSD. Once, when a rye harvest was infested with Claviceps purpurea-a visible parasite, with its fruiting bodies easy to spot amid the ears of grain-it wasn't discarded, and, once the rye was ground into flour, the resultant bread could appear bluish in color. It was a different time, when no harvest could be thrown away, even if the populations of central and northern Europe risked suffering consequences that ranged from the disconcerting to the dangerous. Epidemics of ergotism were frequent: in some cas-es, the people affected by the disease, which inevitably assumed the proportions of a small epidemic-seeing as the mill was shared by the whole village-simply suffered from delirium for several days; but the most serious cases could lead to gangrene. People were healed by setting off on a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Saint Anthony and the miracle took place, though in truth it was because by traveling to Italy the pilgrims began consuming wheat bread, which the ergot rarely attacked. One of ergot's active principles, ergotamine, has been used since the 1920s to treat migraines. In 1938, the young Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was asked by pharmaceutical company Sandoz to investigate the effects of the other alkaloids present in the fungus, with the goal of verifying their potential in controlling the blood flow of women in labor. So it was that Hofmann, synthesizing the alkaloids present in "horned rye," conducted experiments that led to his encounter with Lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. Page 45."

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for an eARC. 

Finished reading: 1st April 2025
~Arden Skye

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Written By: Arden Skye
Favorite game/film/book: doesn’t have one, cause there are too many good ones!
About: generalist, who likes a bit of everything, but especially has a love for magic, queerness and melancholy. When they’re not arting, they’re probably dreaming/reading through another world, or spending time in nature with their dog.
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