Coquitlam Public Library

What a mushroom lives for, matsutake and the worlds they make, Michael J. Hathaway ; with a foreword by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

mapsillustrations

index present

non fiction

What a mushroom lives for

bibliography

Michael J. Hathaway ; with a foreword by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

matsutake and the worlds they make

"When Michael Hathaway embarked on the fieldwork that led to this book years ago, he thought he would be writing a conventional ethnography, centered on the lives of people engaged in the foraging and circulation of an exotic type of mushroom known as the matsutake, which sells for a thousand dollars a kilogram in Japan. In southwest China's Himalayan forests, Hathaway spent months in two mountain communities, among ethnic Tibetans and among the Yi people, whose lives have been transformed beyond recognition by the lucrative matsutake trade. After spending time with Chinese and Japanese matsutake scientists in their labs and field stations, and as he became an ever-more skilled mushroom forager himself, Hathaway reconceived this book entirely. Rather than writing a book on the social worlds of Chinese mushroom hunters, he decided to key on how the mushroom's own behavior shapes the actions of humans and human communities--as well as the actions of other living beings--in ways that aren't often considered. The matsutake and other fungi aren't simply pawns of human economic projects. They seek out other species to carry out their own life projects--i.e., they make their own worlds. And in so doing they exert profound influence on all living things around them. Of course this is true not just of fungi. All living organisms, including plants and animals, constantly and actively interpret and engage with their surroundings. But until recently we have not been able to appreciate the extent to which the 'lowly' fungi engage in these activities as well--how profoundly they shape the rest of nature. They make worlds that we, as humans, are part of, whether we notice it or not"--, Provided by publisher