Morel Tales: The Culture of Mushrooming Book

"How nature is interpreted is not 'natural,'" argues sociologist and author Gary Fine. "Nature is a cultural creation...." Interested in how humans make meaning out of nature through culturally grounded images and interpretations, Fine has coined a new phrase for his study--"naturework." But if it's all so much mind play, what is the point of this deconstructionist preening? In his introduction, Fine parades lengthily phrased, teasingly conceptual theories, positing them against the range of contemporary environmentalist thinking. His three-year study of mushrooms and the people who love them (the Minnesota Mycological Society) utilizes his own field observation, interviews, surveys, and document analysis. He covers such topics as the history of mushroom collection and the mythology they have inspired ("The fact that mushrooms can literally appear overnight makes them seem a gift from the divine"). Indeed, the writing becomes engaging when Fine risks relinquishing his academic pose and offers simple statements tied to experience. His account of a foray on a crisp day in autumn is quite wonderful--the extrapolations are more grounded; the speculations more attuned to a layperson's curiosity. Reports and stories of the mushroom collectors themselves illustrate our human moral-and-meaning-making apparatus. "Mushroomers place faith in the judgments and advice of peers," Fine notes, "and under some circumstances, risk their lives, without little worry. Much trust and confidence in the competence of others characterize the mushrooming community. Yet this community also depends on competition in finding mushrooms, and this leads to secrecy. How is secrecy compatible with the equally visible trust?" Fine's book is, above all else, an astonishing tenacity of focus. --Hollis Giammatteo Read More