Most of the authors whose books I report upon and review are not what anyone would call “controversial.” Oh perhaps within certain academic circles they may have disagreements with colleagues, but as far as the general reading public are concerned, they are models of intellectual sobriety. Of course, there are a few who are a bit more unconventional.
Anyone interested in becoming involved with wild mushrooms had better have themselves a good field guide. For those in the Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic region, such a guide has long been Bill Russell’s 2006 book “Field Guide to Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic,” part of the Keystone Books series from Penn State University Press.
In an age where so many elected and appointed office holders have, shall we say, less than a sufficient knowledge of the relevant subjects necessary for them to do their respective jobs well, it is difficult to imagine a time when not only were such positions held by people who were not merely competent, they were genuine polymaths, well-versed in matters spanning a range so as to make their modern counterparts seem veritable cartoon characters by comparison.
When a new volume from the Animalibus series, Mary Sanders Pollock’s “Storytelling Apes; Primatology Narratives Past and Future” recently arrived on my desk, I made an immediate mental note: “don’t make any initial assumptions about this book – just read it from cover to cover and see where it takes you.”