Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me a copy of this audiobook! I really enjoyed this book and I learned so much from this book. This book has given me a lot to research which is great!

A fascinating topic! This reads like an extended academic essay. The author is very defensive of his theory. The narrator is sort of dry, but that seems appropriate for this tome. A lot to ponder. My husband and I listened together and we're glad we did. It sparked interesting conversation and we were able to clarify points for each other. My thanks to NetGalley for gifting this audiobook to me in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this. I'm here for the rise in mushroom literature! This is the first of this "trilogy" I've read, and I will definitely be seeking out the others.

This book is intended for an academic audience, and was quite dry. The first half of the book is builds a foundation about the problems with a human centric world where animals, plants, and mushrooms are not viewed as having agency. The second half of the book examines the world building power of mushrooms, mainly matsutake mushrooms in creating wealth in China. There was lots of interesting information presented in the book, but at the end I was not convinced of the author’s central premise: that mushrooms have agency.

Fascinating look at how fungi - and one prized mushroom in particular - have been silently shaping societies, the natural world, economies and many other things. The author invites us to reconsider our place as 'nature's master' in the scheme of things and step aside from our assumed position as the pinnacle of nature and instead consider ourselves as part of it, no more or less important than any other aspect. This then gives us a unique perspective as we consider mycological networks and how interconnected all life truly is. A really interesting book that sets out theories and backs them up with well-considered evidence. Recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced audio copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

What a mushroom lives for is about the matsutake mushroom and the impact it has had on the mushroom trade in general, as well as the communities that forage for this mushroom.

Parts of this book were really interesting. I enjoyed the parts about the communities that build their lives around foraging for the matsutake, but these parts of he book didn't make up nearly as much of the book as I wanted them to.

Honestly, my biggest problem with this title was the author's attitude about plants, animals, and fungi. He calls the matsutake "a world maker" and seems to genuinely believe that all plants/animals/fungi have agency. Obviously, different types of intelligence exist, but plants and fungi don't have brains! It was so weird to me that he was basically saying that we should think about fungi and plants on the same level as people. It was really off-putting and it felt preachy. This book was meant to be able the matsutake and their impact on the world. But really it was about Hathaway telling us how we are wrong in thinking that fungi are less important than people.

Recently I did a research paper where the topic was mycorrhizal mushrooms and their relationship with trees; in particular symbiotic relationships that are either endomycorrhizal or ectomycorrhizal. What a Mushroom Lives for touches on this type of information, but really didn't go into depth. I had already read Suzanne Simard's Finding the Mother Tree, Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass and Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life; so I didn't learn anything new about mycorrhizal symbiosis in What a Mushroom Lives for.

But ... I wasn't familiar with Matsutake mushrooms, and that is what this book is about. The book is laid out in a unique way, the author was trying to prove different concepts about the Matsutake mushroom. Because of the chapter structure, there was some overlap in ideas (and some repetition).

The book (I was approved for the audiobook and any drawings or graphs from the book were not reviewed) was VERY wordy. For example, the audio book is nearly 9 hours. I noticed that the introduction and preface to the book was almost 19% of the book ... before the words "Chapter 1".

So ... if you are interested in how the matsutake mushroom has impacted the lives of yaks, this is the book for you!

It seems that matsutake mushrooms are in many parts of the world, but this book mostly concentrates on how they are imported from China to Japan. This mushroom is very desirable to the Japanese, in a similar way that the rest of the world is crazy about truffles.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review; and also to Michael J. Hathaway the author, to Christopher Grove the narrator and to Tantor Audio the publisher.

This book is quite fascinating, especially for a book I decided to read on a whim. I really appreciated exploring the author's views on fungi and their agency. However, I feel like he focused on them a bit too much, which left the book with less space to dedicate to its actual subject - the matsutake mushroom. I would recommend this to fans of niche non-fiction and to those interested in the topic.

As a former student who has dabbled in more-than-human geography, I very much enjoyed Hathaway's deep exploration of the world co-created by the Matsutake fungi - and I hope curious readers who don't have the same academic background will enjoy it equally.

The book is a pleasing balance of the author's firsthand experience and his extensive research of a story of humans and nonhumans spanning great distances of time and space (while the book mainly focuses on a region of China, other places are visited too). Hathaway throws in plenty of references to other academics and writers, but not in a lofty, opaque way (as some academics or philosophers are wont to do).

While I didn't hear anything that blew my mind, 'What A Mushroom Lives For' is a highly accessible illustration of what it means to recognise the agency of other beings. It's also a story I would never have known about otherwise, and one that was meticulously, even lovingly told - a book for the deeply curious. My one criticism was the synopsis that was provided at the beginning of each chapter/section - they always took some of the anticipation away, were jarring, and came across far too much like scientific article abstracts that give all the important bits away.

(With thanks to Tantor Audio and NetGalley for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review)

I received an arc of the audiobook version from NetGalley. I wanted to thank the publisher and RB Media.

I couldn’t finish this book. It was mostly because the narrator read it in a very monotone voice, and the content was not what I expected. I thought I would learn a lot about mushrooms, but I was instead listening to how mushrooms were viewed in the scientific community. I found myself losing interest easily. I think this book would be better outside of the audio format because then I could skim it more. But I don’t see myself diving deep into it to read it word by word.

With thanks to NetGalley, Micheal J Hathaway, and the publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful book full of interesting ideas. The writing is engaging and light, though I can see it being skimmed by someone who isn’t as interested in the content as others.

I have always liked mushrooms and been interested in them generally but this is a very narrow line of interest. Hathaway has a knack for making scientific/anthropological/philosophical discussions interesting without dumbing it down.

I don’t necessarily agree with everything the author says, the concepts they argue for, or the interpretations of certain things - but it was interesting and entertaining.

It certainly isn’t a scientific/biological investigation into the internal workings of the Matsutake mushroom but rather uses the matsutake as a fulcrum with which to discuss the idea of reorganising our relationship and perception of non human entities.

An excellent addition to any interesting collection.

I enjoyed the narration by Christopher Grove, they gave an excellent performance and to my civilian ears did a great job of the scientific and LOTE pronunciation. (My standard disclaimer applies, I listen to almost all audiobooks at increased playback speed, but always listen to a portion at regular speed to get a feel for the narrator)

In 'What A Mushroom Lives For', Hathaway invites the listener to reconsider their way of thinking about the natural world, especially in regards to fungi, and whether our beliefs and feelings towards the natural world are unfairly limited.

Hathaway sets about showing how everything from the British aversion to mushrooms, to the dominance of english text in science, and the belief that 'will' is a characteristic of humans alone have shaped our view and understanding of how fungi exist within nature. Often labelled as passive, Hathaway shows the listener that there is much more to fungi than we know and paints a picture of a world that is extremely dependent on its need for fungi.

I loved the way that I was constantly challenged to reconsider my preconceptions and understanding of the natural world. I found myself having several "Oh, of course!" moments when Hathaway offered a new perspective which was so obvious that I couldn't believe that I had never considered it before.

I found the links between mushrooms and local economies, social change, and cultural identity fascinating and something I never would have considered likely on my own.

This book is heavy on the academic philosophising and therefore best suited to those with an interest in natural philosophy and/or a strong fascination with fungi.

I enjoyed the narration by Christopher Grove and found his performance suited the subject matter perfectly. Grove's speech is clear and well-paced. On a personal note, I appreciated that Grove pronounced 'fungi' as 'fun-guy' and not as 'fun-j-eye' as some other narrators do. Whilst not relevant to the quality of the audio production, it did allow me to remain engaged in the book without being distracted.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tantor Audio, and Michael J. Hathaway for giving me a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to the audio version of “What A Mushroom Lives For”, which was a deep dive into a specific species of mushroom, the matsutake. For the right audience, I think they would enjoy digging into this particular fungi, however, I was wanting broader text within the world of mushrooms.

A sincere thank you to NetGalley and Tandor Audio for providing me an advanced copy of “What A Mushroom Lives For” in exchange for an honest review. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this story and leave my review voluntarily.

I am an academic, so I say this seriously: this is what happens when you come up with a catchy title that doesn't reflect the contents of the book. I understand this is one of a series of books about mushrooms. But this book reads as a very navel-gazey exploration of how one researcher thinks his research is important. I was hoping for something more pop-science, more engaging, more inter-weaving narratives. Instead this felt auto-biographical and lecture-y. Just disappointing.

This book was not quite what I expected or was looking for. For the right person I think this book would be a hit but for me it was a little too dense and academic feeling.

The first few chapters of the book focused on the much larger picture of mushrooms and how they shaped our landscape from the days of the primordial earth to today. The second part focused more specifically on the Matsutake mushroom and how it economically effected different regions as demand for it grew from the Japanese demand for it.

Throughout the book there are peppered some very interesting facts and ideas about mushrooms, how they evolved and also shaped evolution. These little nuggets while enjoying weren't enough for me. The book was just dry and perhaps more vast in scope than I was expecting. I listened to the audio version at 2x the speed, because I just wanted to be able to get through it. It came off as a lecture I really wanted to enjoy but overall was disappointed by. Now in the rights hands this book is probably a delightful read but for me it was not.

If this had not been a free ARC (thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio) which I wanted to be able to review I probably would not have finished it. I can't say I will be recommending the book to others though I would discuss and bring up ideas from this book with others.

I love reading books about mushrooms, but this one seemed to go over my head. I think because it was such a broad overview of Matsutake mushrooms and the world around them. I just didn't seem to follow everything he was talking about, but I did get some good facts here and there.

I received an arc for the audiobook from NetGalley.

I love mushrooms. A lot. I just did a drawing challenge in March painting a mushroom every day, and looked into each and every one of them for fun. For most mushrooms I could only find a little information, not nearly as much as I would have liked. So seeing this book, a whole book about Matsutake mushrooms sounded amazing. Especially since I live in an area where Matsutake are both prized and grown/foraged.

This book is not that. It is not an in-depth informational book about Matsutake Mushrooms. This book is something different entirely. It is an anthropological view into mushrooms and how they are seen in science/around the world.

The actual biological information about Matsutake was not the main topic of this book, and was not even close to the amount I had expected/hoped for.

In fact, this book read a bit like an auto-biography of the authors one path into learning about mushrooms as a whole, in a human-centric world. A lot of the views the author described as <i>common</i> were once that I did not have, nor were they what I learned in biology. I'm guessing this is both a case of different geographical area = different education, and me being a different generation. "Recent studies" were studies in the past few years, but also in 1997, 25 years ago. As I am 28, I would not consider 1997 recent... And yes, this book is a 2022 release, so it's not a case of the book being old.

The author focuses a lot on the Western view of fungi and how he wants to change it, and looks at it different. He talks about people viewing animals as having no autonomy/thoughts/feelings, which is something I think anyone with a pet would disagree with. Once we get to plants and microbes, this sentiment starts to make more sense, because this is a lot more common.

Personally, I don't think you can ever fully understand how another being/lifeform functions, because just because it's different from humans doesn't mean it's not just as complex. Just because we don't know what and how animals/trees/fungi think and work, doesn't mean they don't. This might be a controversial take.

The author partly tries to argue against the western worldview, but also occasionally falls into the same traps in other parts of the book. He uses linguistic reasons, where he mentions we rarely call animals by their gender even if we know their gender, and instead use "it", with the exception being pets.
I'm not sure I agree with that. I don't think using gendered terms when you know an animal is uncommon, whether it's a pet or not. An example would be birds, where the colouration often shows the gender, which makes more people use the terms. (Again, this might just be in the area I grew up in, language changes/evolves/is different everywhere).
Linguistic aspects in other languages than English were not discussed, despite China and Japan having quite a large role in this book.

He comments on the Eastern view several times, always in contrast with the Western view. Personally, I think blanket statements about what *humans* think, and then stating that, well, actually not all humans, actually a lot of people think differently felt weird. I can't really explain well what I mean, but I felt that while the author clearly agrees more with the Eastern view, his treatment of it in this book often came across as rather dismissive.

Looking at the Matsutake itself, this book focused on China and Tibet, and the Matsutake there. While it talked about the popularity of Matsutake in Japan, there was very little discussion about the Matsutake grown in Japan. (Even though it's kinda a big deal). Also thought it was quite funny how there was a mention that Matsutake weren't that good to eat, so they must have medicinal qualities, while Matsutake are literally seen as a delicatessen in Japan. I mean, these mushrooms are super expensive, but gosh, they're delicious. Matsutake broth, Matsutake rice, I love it.

If you are interested in how the world looks at/thinks about mushrooms, and how that view is slowly changing, this is the book for you. It's more about humans and their thoughts and views than it's about the mushrooms. (Although of course the views are centred around mushrooms, mostly). I studies Japanese language and culture, but my speciality was anthropology (with a linguistics second), so a lot of this book matches my interests. I was still disappointed I didn't learn as much about mushrooms as I wanted.

I did learn a lot about how humans apparently look at the world around them, even if I personally can't say that I agree with most of it. Maybe it's because I'm autistic. Maybe it's because I've been living in Japan for over 6 years now, and my "Western" worldview has become more "Eastern" (no, I never actually thought that way). Maybe it's because I'm not from North America, and am from Europe. Maybe it's because I was raised in a way where nature was respected and something I learned a lot about, both because I wanted to and because the people around me knew a lot. Maybe it's because I grew up in an area where this worldview was already shifted, and so my education was different from that of the author. I can think of maybe possible reasons though I can't pinpoint which one it is.

I also learned a lot about the Jin Chinese and how the popularity of mushrooms influenced the way they lived. All of this clearly shows the anthropological way the author looked at mushrooms. I don't mind that, but it's not what I was looking for when I picked this book up.

One thing I did really enjoy was finding out that the pokemon Paras and Parasect are actually based on real life zombie mushrooms that infiltrate a caterpillar and slowly take over it's body. I mean, that's a cool titbit.

I had hoped/expected to learn about Matsutake mushrooms and instead I learned about the people working with the mushrooms, and how the world views fungi. I also got to follow the journey of the author on his path to learn about the impact mushrooms have on the world. It was interesting at times, slightly boring at others. I would have liked more facts/information about the Mushrooms and less generalisations about how people see things.

Now, I am obviously not a scientist. I have some background in Anthropology and Linguistics on University level, and a rather large interest in science and biology, though mostly as a hobbyist (though my high school classes were all science related). I can't talk about scientific studies into mushrooms up to this point, because I haven't read enough of them to know if what the author talked about was/is an actual problem. My judgement is instead based on my own views, and the views of the people I know/around me, and what I learned in high school, so anecdotal and shouldn't be taken for hard facts.

As for the audiobook, it was fine. The narrator spoke clearly, though the pronunciation of Japanese names bothered me a bit. I can't talk about the Chinese names, because I don't speak Chinese. The narration was at times rather dry, but that might be because of the subject matter and the type of book this is.

I struggled writing this review, because I find it hard to explain exactly what bothered me about this book. Not enough information about Matsutake. Generalisations. A worldview I couldn't connect with, which made the arguments to this "new" worldview feel rather like stating the obvious.

As excited as I was to learn about the matsutake mushroom, the combination of the very dry monotoned delivery by the audiobook narrator and the writing style this audiobook is one I had to walk away from.
I hope to give this book another try in physical format, I think separating it from the narrator would do it a lot of justice.