Book Review: How To Win Friends And Influence Fungi

How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi
by Chris Balakrishnan and Matt Wasowski
Review by Mida

Have you ever watched a Ted Talk and gone ‘Dang, this is really interesting but I wish I had this in book form, written by people who are really knowledgeable about this and are ALSO funny’? Congrats, this book is for you. Nerd Nite describes itself as ‘The Discovery Channel but with beer’ and this book takes the knowledge, joy and chaos that that tagline promises and condenses it into segments that are a few pages long.

Broken into sections that are including but not limited to ‘Creature Features’, ‘Bodily Fluids’ and ‘Death and Taxes (but mostly just death)’ and more, there’s something for everyone. I think my favourite part about this book -other than it feels like skimming a bunch of text books at once – is how in love all of the presenters are with their work. They’re clearly so excited to share their knowledge with the world and their joy is infectious. There are little doodles for each essay that I frequently found myself distracted by but I was always drawn back to the text itself by the delight of each writer.

This is not an encyclopedia; it’s more like a collection of newspaper clippings. Each text is short enough that it whets your appetite but leaves you hungry for more. It’s meant to encourage you to do your own research.

This is perfect for the reader who liked Horrible Histories growing up. It understands that non-fiction doesn’t have to be dull – you can have fun! Add the silly little doodles, make jokes! Anyone who enjoys decimating their opponents at trivia nights or pub quizzes needs to read this, there’s endless ammunition squeezed into these pages. Also great for fans of The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful or Randall Munroe’s What If? Series.