How to Forage for Mushrooms Without Dying: An absolute beginner's guide to identifying 29 wild, edible mushrooms

by Frank Hyman
June 24, 2015

Our Take:

Just as promised, this is an excellent book for beginners who need a handy resource for their foraged fungi.  It provides checklists for identification, "What, where and when" tips for locating, preservation, farming and cooking tips too. 29 mushrooms are covered and the book is small enough to nearly call a handbook. We appreciate that most "field guides" do not focus on the edibility aspects and this book can be a handy addition to a proper field guide.

ISBN 9781604695311, 1604695315
Trade Paperback | 318 pages

With the surging interest in foraging for mushrooms, those new to the art need a reliable guide to distinguishing the safe fungi from the toxic. But for beginner foragers who just want to answer the question “Can I eat it?”, most of the books on the subject are dry, dense, and written by mycologists for other mycologists. 

Frank Hyman to the rescue! How to Forage for Mushrooms without Dying is the book for anyone who walks in the woods and would like to learn how to identify just the 29 edible mushrooms they’re likely to come across. In it, Hyman offers his expert mushroom foraging advice, distilling down the most important information for the reader in colorful, folksy language that’s easy to remember when in the field. Want an easy way to determine if a mushroom is a delicious morel or a toxic false morel? Slice it in half – “if it’s hollow, you can swallow,” Hyman says. With Frank Hyman’s expert advice and easy-to-follow guidelines, readers will be confident in identifying which mushrooms they can safely eat and which ones they should definitely avoid.

Frank Hyman is a certified mushroom forager who teaches mushroom identification to chefs, arborists, organic farmers, and the general public. His writing on foraging has appeared in Forbes, Paleo Magazine, and Hobby Farms. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

"Using vivid photos, the book explains how to identify, clean, preserve and cook 29 varieties of edible mushrooms, while celebrating the glorious range of mushroom scents (watermelon rind, fish, lemon) and flavors (hints of crabmeat, chicken, egg noodles, vanilla)." -- Peter Saenger, Wall Street Journal

"While most mushroom books are by mycologists for mycologists, Hyman writes as an experienced mushroom forager who’s excited to bring others into the fold…or field or forest, as the case may be."
--Foreword, starred review

"Arming readers with knowledge and a bit of caution, Hyman does a spectacular job uncovering the joys of this woodland wonder." --Publishers Weekly

"Photos are clear, descriptions are detailed, and the author has a great sense of humor. It’s small enough to slip into your pocket or pack for on-the-go identification." --Backpacker