The essays rely heavily on wringing humor from dialect, something that got laughs more reliably in that era of minstrel shows and the like. What's most
interesting today about their politics is that they're of a piece with Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Orwell's Shooting an Elephant, in that they're
anti-imperialist because of the effect it will have on the colonizers, rather than the colonized. Here's a representative sample:

**Wan iv the worst things about this here war is th' way it's makin' puzzles f'r our poor, tired heads. Whin I wint into it, I thought all I'd have to
do was to set up here behind th' bar with a good tin-cint see-gar in me teeth, an' toss dinnymite bombs into th' hated city iv Havana. But look
at me now. Th' war is still goin' on; an' ivry night, whin I'm countin' up the cash, I'm askin' mesilf will I annex Cubia or lave it to the Cubians?
Will I take Porther Ricky or put it by? An' what shud I do with the Ph'lippeens? Oh, what shud I do with thim? I can't annex thim because I
don't know where they ar-re. I can't let go iv thim because some wan else'll take thim if I do. They are eight thousan' iv thim islands, with a
popylation iv wan hundherd millyon naked savages; an' me bedroom's crowded now with me an' th' bed. How can I take thim in, an' how on
earth am I goin' to cover th' nakedness iv thim savages with me wan shoot iv clothes? An' yet 'twud break me heart to think iv givin' people I
niver see or heerd tell iv back to other people I don't know. An', if I don't take thim, Schwartzmeister down th' sthreet, that has half me thrade
already, will grab thim sure.

"It ain't that I'm afraid iv not doin' th' r-right thing in th' end, Hinnissy. Some mornin' I'll wake up an' know jus' what to do, an' that I'll do. But
'tis th' annoyance in th' mane time. I've been r-readin' about th' counthry. 'Tis over beyant ye'er left shoulder whin ye're facin' east. Jus'
throw ye'er thumb back, an' ye have it as ac'rate as anny man in town. 'Tis farther thin Boohlgahrya an' not so far as Blewchoochoo. It's near
Chiny, an' it's not so near; an', if a man was to bore a well through fr'm Goshen, Indianny, he might sthrike it, an' thin again he might not. It's a
poverty-sthricken counthry, full iv goold an' precious stones, where th' people can pick dinner off th' threes an' ar-re starvin' because they
have no step-ladders. Th' inhabitants is mostly naygurs an' Chinnymen, peaceful, industhrus, an' law-abidin', but savage an' bloodthirsty in
their methods. They wear no clothes except what they have on, an' each woman has five husbands an' each man has five wives. Th' r-rest
goes into th' discard, th' same as here. Th' islands has been ownded be Spain since befure th' fire; an' she's threated thim so well they're now
up in ar-rms again her, except a majority iv thim which is thurly loyal. Th' natives seldom fight, but whin they get mad at wan another they
r-run-a-muck. Whin a man r-runs-a-muck, sometimes they hang him an' sometimes they discharge him an' hire a new motorman. Th'
women ar-re beautiful, with languishin' black eyes, an' they smoke see-gars, but ar-re hurried an' incomplete in their dhress. I see a pitcher
iv wan th' other day with nawthin' on her but a basket of cocoanuts an' a hoop-skirt. They're no prudes. We import juke, hemp, cigar
wrappers, sugar, an' fairy tales fr'm th' Ph'lippeens, an' export six-inch shells an' th' like. Iv late th' Ph'lippeens has awaked to th' fact that
they're behind th' times, an' has received much American amminition in their midst. They say th' Spanyards is all tore up about it.

"I larned all this fr'm th' papers, an' I know 'tis sthraight. An' yet, Hinnissy, I dinnaw what to do about th' Ph'lippeens. An' I'm all alone in th'
wurruld. Ivrybody else has made up his mind. Ye ask anny con-ducthor on Ar-rchy R-road, an' he'll tell ye. Ye can find out fr'm the papers;
an', if ye really want to know, all ye have to do is to ask a prom'nent citizen who can mow all th' lawn he owns with a safety razor. But I don't
know."**

There are some mild chuckles there and you get a sense of how the Mr. Dooley character enabled him to prick America's civilizing pretensions rather gently. On the other hand, Mr. Dooley seems
right, even know, not to know what we should have been doing in places like the Philippines and Cuba. The former seems to have benefitted significantly from our involvement, even if its people
resented us, and the latter would certainly have fared better had we gotten reinvolved as recently as forty years ago. Yet, if you look at how ambivalent we all are about the prospects for
democratizing the Middle East and about whether that's even a fit role for the U.S., you have to wonder if we can ever resolve the tension between our desire to "do good" and out fear of being
morally tainted by our involvement with cultures so clearly "other". One's admiration for Mr. Dunne ends up being tempered by the knowledge that what he's making fun of something that's actually
rather admirable in our national character, our uneasiness over our role as the world's crusader for peace and democracy.

This forty-six page booklet gives excellent background on several of the better known edible, gourmet mushrooms which also have therapeutic potential, such as shiitake, maitake, and other exotic mushrooms. After a brief introduction which makes a strong case for the incorporation of medicinal mushrooms in the diet, the booklet places the nine mushrooms featured in the book into four distinct categories- Polypores (4), Gilled Mushrooms (3), Teethed Fungi (1), and insect parasitizing mushrooms (1). Each category contains a brief introduction which summarizes in general terms the history, folklore, physical and medicinal properties and therapeutic uses of the members of the category. From there, the booklet then goes on to describe in copious detail each member of the category by including information on its medicinal properties, principal (bio-)active constituents, the form in which it is used, and additional comments on the mushroom that give more detail on things such as history, varieties, cultivation methods, and Stamets' anecdotal experience with the mushroom.

Although quite small, the booklet is heavily referenced, and in fact, more than half of the text is devoted to references primarily focusing on clinical trials of the various mushrooms. Stamets, to his credit, also gives the reader a list of general articles devoted to the topic of medicinal mushrooms, as well as a good list of books and journals devoted to the subject of medicinal mushrooms. Surprisingly, he also provides for such a small exposition, a very workable index.

Yet, the copious referencing throughout the text is at once both the booklet's strength and weakness. On the one hand, the references serve as a good jumping-off point for researchers looking to get involved in the field. On the other hand, the copious referencing interferes with the flow of the text, and at times, so much technical jargon is used (and not properly defined, I might add), that it almost feels like one is reading a research paper that is being submitted to a journal devoted to some sort of rocket science. While laypeople may zero in on some key points, I believe most of what he says about the therapeutic properties may be lost to them. Although Stamets has put together an information-dense pamphlet on glossy paper, future volumes should reconsider some of the pictures, which are adequate, and in some cases eyecatching, but are too small or are not very clear. In addition, his 'Short Glossary of Terms' is truly short, and has only eight definitions.

While Stamets has succeeded in introducing the topic of medicinal mushrooms to the public (while, I might add, at the same time not making the tremendous faux paus of saying that 'mushrooms are plants', as many lesser writers on the subject have done), he may have unintentionally mislead many uninformed laypeople into believing that the medicinal mushrooms represent some form of 'one-stop pharmaceutical shopping'. I can easily see and understand a situation where some poor soul who is probably taking two or three medications to control his or her arthritis and perhaps many more for a variety of other afflictions, may get the impression that by consuming one or more of these mushrooms, they could obtain immediate relief from their ills. Furthermore, giving Stamets the benefit of the doubt, a cursory review of the references will reveal that many of them are the findings of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean researchers (with a few Germans and Russians thrown in to boot); no doubt that many of the references are not written in English. As good practice, future editions should note the source language of the materials he quotes, and whether or not it is a translation or an original language document. In addition, while Stamets is very forthcoming about the results of the various clinical trials for different mushrooms, he has not given us any information on how the trials were conducted. Future editions of this booklet should also endeavor to give the reader this crucial piece(s) of information.

Finally, given the immense amount of data, timeliness and importance of this booklet, its current size is simply too small to give the subject its due. This reviewer hopes that Stamets will consider, and ultimately pen, a full-blown book on the subject. In the meantime, non-technical readers that desire more information on the subject of medicinal mushrooms should consult Kenneth Jones's highly informative and well-researched book titled, 'Shiitake: The Healing Mushroom'.

I suggest looking at the very latest in publications. For example Joseph LeDoux (who has entries here that are head and shoulders above the other contributers)

The authors not only describe study and testing, but the work necessary to make a successful career out of the CNE, including continuing education and marketing.

A worthwhile read for those planning a career change.