{"id":6251,"date":"2023-05-30T16:04:40","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T23:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/?post_type=book&#038;p=6251"},"modified":"2024-02-09T11:11:06","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T19:11:06","slug":"mycelium-wassonii","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/book\/mycelium-wassonii\/","title":{"rendered":"Mycelium Wassonii"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-6252\" src=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/BB-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"301\" height=\"460\" \/>The most distinctive of the graphic nonfiction books in the Miller Library collection is \u201cMycelium Wassonii\u201d by Brian Blomerth.\u00a0 It is a biography of R. Gordon Wasson (1898-1986) and Valentina Pavlovna \u201cTina\u201d Wasson (1901-1958).\u00a0 Their careers were in banking and pediatrics, respectively, however they are best known for the passionate interest in the significance of mushrooms to different cultures around the world and as pioneers in the study of ethnomycology.<\/p>\n<p>The central story of the book describes the Wasson\u2019s visits to the indigenous Mazatec people of the state of Oaxaca in Mexico to learn about their use of psilocybin mushrooms in sacred ceremonies.\u00a0 Despite making a promise of secrecy, Gordon later allowed the location and identity of those who invited them into their rites to be known.\u00a0 This led to exploitation and considerable disruption of this small community and the ostracizing of their principal contact.<\/p>\n<p>I had trouble getting started with this book, especially as most of the people are drawn with animalistic facial features.\u00a0 However, I soon became engaged and it read much like any other biography, albeit with an unfamiliar artistic expression.\u00a0 Given the subject of \u201cmagic\u201d mushrooms, it seemed very appropriate!<\/p>\n<p>Excerpted from Brian Thompson&#8217;s article in the Summer 2023 issue of the <em>Arboretum Bulletin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The most distinctive of the graphic nonfiction books in the Miller Library collection is \u201cMycelium Wassonii\u201d by Brian Blomerth.\u00a0 It is a biography of R. Gordon Wasson (1898-1986) and Valentina Pavlovna \u201cTina\u201d Wasson (1901-1958).\u00a0 Their careers were in banking and pediatrics, respectively, however they are best known for the passionate interest in the significance of mushrooms to different cultures around the world and as pioneers in the study of ethnomycology. The central story of the book describes the Wasson\u2019s visits&#8230;<\/p>\n<div><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/book\/mycelium-wassonii\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Mycelium Wassonii<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[335,331,22],"class_list":["post-6251","book","type-book","status-publish","hentry","keyword-biography","keyword-fungi-and-mushrooms","keyword-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book\/6251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/book"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/book"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=6251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}