Rating: 
Summary: None better!
Review: "Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World" is a first-rate reference on psilocybes, and one that I would enthusiastically recommend to anybody with an interest. That said, however, I'd like to weigh in with a bit of personal advice on the subject:
BE VERY AWARE THAT IF YOU EAT ANY WILD MUSHROOM WITHOUT POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION-- EVEN IF IT SUPERFICIALLY RESEMBLES THE MUSHROOMS PICTURED IN THIS BOOK-- YOU MIGHT DIE!!!
Even for experienced mycologists, mushroom identification can be a difficult process. Would you be willing to stake your life on whether a mushroom's spores are rust-brown, as opposed to a rusty purplish-brown? That's a pretty subjective call, and the only way to be 100% certain is to throw spore and tissue samples on the microscope. Many edible mushrooms have deadly look-alikes, and to make matters worse, almost every known mushroom has variant strains. By following the guidelines in this book, an inexperienced enthusiast can be reasonably certain that he or she has correctly identified a field specimen, but even the best field guide is no substitute for experience and good judgment (as Stamets himself states repeatedly in this book!). This is a great reference work for anybody with an interest in mycology, but it shouldn't be mistaken for a "green light" to pick wild hallucinogenic mushrooms for personal consumption.
That said, this book is a real gem, with detailed summary descriptions of several dozen known and suspected psilocybes. Each description is accompanied by at least one color photograph. Stamets uses very scientific terminology in describing each psilocybe-- considering the consequences of a false identification, it's important for the author to be as precise in his descriptions as possible-- but there are also several helpful pages of charts at the end of the book which explain what all of this technical jargon means.
This is far and away the best field guide to psilocybe mushrooms that I've seen so far. I can truly recommend this work without reservation!
Rating:
Summary: Entheogens: Professional Listing
Review: "Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy" http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy
Rating:
Summary: Just overall a great read!
Review: A magnificent outlook to all the most very important and specific types of psilocybe containing mushrooms.
Great advice for having a good trip worth reading.
History of christianity into the mix of older style spiritual use on it and how they interacted ..
The first 3 pages of the history amazed and still amazes me with the knowledge and time ,beyond time we never thought there was humanity as we know it .
Rating: 
Summary: Whar's da key?
Review: Indeed an excellent suppliment to the book collection. I do not disagree with the other reviewers of the excellent compilation of the book. One must realize, this book does not contain a key to species of Psilocybe.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for psilocybin mushroom identification
Review: The first 5 chapters of this book had me glued to the pages. The book starts off with some fascinating history and personal information about psilocybin mushrooms. The rest of the book gives some very detailed information for hunting them. Some of the pictures are rather small, but for the most part identification is very helpfull with this book, but I would get at least one other field guide to go with it.
Rating:
Summary: Photos and descriptions are great for identification.
Review: This book is a must for any enthusiest of Magic Mushrooms. The Photographs and detailed descriptions of the various species make this book a definite must for anyone wanting to identify Magic mushrooms, including deadly look alikes. The book is a complete guide, from history, experiences and all relative information that you could want. Paul Stamet's is "The Man" of mushrooms and a lot of his time and effort has gone into making this book factual and interesting. Hope you enjoy this book a much a I have.
Rating:
Summary: All-Time best field guide
Review: This book is by far the best book I have read on identification of psilocybian mushrooms. It has good information as well as some interesting perspectives on psilocybes. A must have for anyone who is serious about this stuff!
Rating:
Summary: Best single resource for information on Psilocybin Mushrooms
Review: This book is the best single resource for information about Psilocybin mushrooms. The book starts out with a brief history of the use of these mushrooms, and then moves on to a general review on their nature and habitat. There is an extensive section listing many different kinds of Psilocybes and similar mushrooms with a thorough description and photograph on most of them.
If there is a single flaw in this book, it would be that the pictures are small, and therefore difficult to scan for details. Also, some of the pictures aren't very good in general, making it difficult to see how the mushrooms in the pictures match the descriptions in the book. I would suggest more and bigger photographs for the second edition of this book.
I highly recommend this book to anyone with any kind of interest in Psilocybe mushrooms
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME Book On This Field
Review: This is by far the most descriptive and complete guide to psychoactive mushrooms and their deadly look-alikes I have ever read. LOTS of cool, detailed color pictures to help with both identification and leisure entertainment. The book is comprised of the following: -5 pages on the history of them
-6 pages on their distribution around the world
-8 pages on general places they like to grow (e.g. under a bush or something)
-12 pages on tips for good trips
-20 pages on identification & collection techniques
-123 pages on just about every species of psychoactive mushrooms known to man (pics, description, habitat, etc.) both highly active and relatives that have low chemical content
-10 pages on deadly look-alikes
-includes a glossary, recommended reading, bibliography, and index This is the best all-around book on this subject! Buy it now!
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME Book On This Field
Review: This is by far the most descriptive and complete guide to psychoactive mushrooms and their deadly look-alikes I have ever read. LOTS of cool, detailed color pictures to help with both identification and leisure entertainment. The book is comprised of the following: -5 pages on the history of them
-6 pages on their distribution around the world
-8 pages on general places they like to grow (e.g. under a bush or something)
-12 pages on tips for good trips
-20 pages on identification & collection techniques
-123 pages on just about every species of psychoactive mushrooms known to man (pics, description, habitat, etc.) both highly active and relatives that have low chemical content
-10 pages on deadly look-alikes
-includes a glossary, recommended reading, bibliography, and index This is the best all-around book on this subject! Buy it now!
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