Continuing my theme of reading books with long titles in June, let’s talk about The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing. What a great title! It evokes images of a mushroom that might outlive us, which is funny, because matsutake thrives in sites of human disturbance. If we died out tomorrow, how long would the mushroom survive?
The title and description of this book led me to believe it would be about the post-apocalyptic possibilities of matsutake, but no, it’s about the mushroom’s place in our economy, and the place of the people who pick it, buy it, export/import it, and otherwise form a part of the mushroom’s supply chain.
The Mushroom at the End of the World is a multi-discipline book, looking at economics, ecology, supply chain logistics, anthropology, forestry, and yes, biology. It examines how matsutake, a mushroom primarily prized by Japanese people (both in Japan and in diaspora), is grown and harvested in Japan, America, China, and Finland.
Like many mushrooms, matsutake cannot be easily farmed, because it has a symbiotic relationship with specific trees, and those trees thrive in specific forest conditions. Interestingly, those conditions are often created by logging or other human uses of forests, such as gathering firewood and green mulch. So humans cannot farm matsutake, but we can try to cultivate the sort of environment that might encourage matsutake and their host trees to set up shop. The author explores how different countries have different approaches to managing their forests to potentially encourage the growth of matsutake, which can be a profitable crop.
While I found it interesting that the author came at the topic from so many different angles, there was also way more geopolitics and economics in what I thought was going to be a nature-focused book. I really didn’t need to know so much about the history of the value of the yen vs the dollar, or the conditions that led to companies choosing to outsource much of their labor and creating the modern supply chain situation. I just wanted to learn about mushrooms.
The Mushroom at the End of the World is a very academic book with hundreds of references to academic papers and other books. But Lowenhaupt Tsing has made an attempt to make it more approachable, keeping her chapters short and including photos and endearing micro illustrations for the section breaks. Yes, it can be dense, especially in the economic sections, but when the author uses academic language, she tends to do a good job of explaining what she means by it… as well as potential other meanings and uses the reader may come across in other sources.
If you’re looking for a casual pop sci read, The Mushroom at the End of the World is probably going to frustrate you. But if you’re willing to go on a meandering journey, you might just have some rewarding experiences along the way.
CWs and TWs: Many of the mushroom pickers in the PNW are people who were displaced by various wars in Asia. As such, this book touches on themes of war, being a refugee, and some racism. Plus there’s lots of late-stage capitalism.
Format and Source: I read this as a paperback book purchased from Ridgecrest Books on Indie Bookstore Day!
Book Bingo Prompts
Nook & Cranny (Card 2): Mother Earth (or Our Impending Doom). A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B… let’s face it, capitalism is going to kill us all. But at least Mother Earth can delight us with mushrooms while we’re still here.
SAL/SPL Adult Summer Reading: Environmental. This book expanded my thinking about environmental destruction. Just as with when I read Pests last year, it was interesting to think about the species that thrive in our margins, those who have evolved to take advantage of our actions. This doesn’t mitigate the harm we’ve done, of course, but at least somebody is benefitting from our bad actions, other than the people who got rich off of lumber.
Book Bingo Progress
Nook & Cranny (Card 1): 15 out of 25 prompts complete. 1 bingo.
Nook & Cranny (Card 2): 13 out of 25 prompts complete. 0 bingos.
SAL/SPL Adult Summer Reading: 6 out of 23 prompts, 0 bingos.