Meetings with Remarkable Mushrooms

A captivating journey across continents and ecosystems in the company of someone who genuinely loves fungi. Pouliot brings decades of fieldwork into a book that reads like a travel memoir crossed with a science essay collection, revealing the strangeness and beauty of mushrooms most people walk right past.

Why Start Here

This is Pouliot’s most personal and accessible book. Rather than being organized as a field guide or textbook, it follows her across the world as she tracks down remarkable species, from fire-loving truffles that change their scent after burning to lure mammals, to glowing ghost fungi that mimic edible oyster mushrooms. Each encounter becomes an entry point into bigger questions about ecology, conservation, and what fungi reveal about the health of our ecosystems. You do not need any background in mycology to enjoy it.

What to Expect

A 320-page narrative nonfiction book with 16 color plates of Pouliot’s own photography. The writing is warm and personal but grounded in science, drawing on her experience working with everyone from professional mycologists to traditional landowners in Australia. The book argues passionately that fungi deserve the same conservation attention we give to animals and plants, making it both a compelling read and a quiet call to action.