Book Review: The Mushroom at the End of the World

More than mushrooms

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There is a mushroom growing in the forests from Northern British Columbia to Northern California. This mushroom is considered a delicacy in Japan. But to the rest of the world, it is only another mushroom.

Writer Anna Tsing takes us on a journey of the matusake mushroom.

This mushroom grows under the ground. Not only does it take a picker’s eye to spot the slight ground disturbance to find it, harvesting takes physical stamina and forest knowledge.

Pickers spend their day combing the forests. Some days, the harvest is great; other days not. By suppertime, they bring their finds to the “temporary tent cities” where buyers gather. That’s when the haggling starts between pickers and buyers.

There’s pressure on both sides. Mushrooms deteriorate fast: the pickers must sell their delicate mushrooms before the buyers leave, around 10:00 p.m. The buyers have a quota to fill, at the lowest price possible. Pickers competing against other pickers; buyers competing against other buyers. Almost no laws; no lawyers or courts. This is free enterprise at its best. Supply and demand.

When the buyers fill their quota, they take their mushrooms to their “field agent.” He has been making deals with the “bulk agent,” who…