First published 2015.

P.B

Includes bibliographical references (pages 289-322) and index.

"A tale of diversity within our damaged landscapes, The Mushroom at the End of the World follows one of the strangest commodity chains of our times to explore the unexpected corners of capitalism. Here, we witness the varied and peculiar worlds of matsutake commerce: the worlds of Japanese gourmets, capitalist traders, Hmong jungle fighters, industrial forests, Yi Chinese goat herders, Finnish nature guides, and more. These companions also lead us into fungal ecologies and forest histories to better understand the promise of cohabitation in a time of massive human destruction."--Publisher's description.

Prologue: Autumn aroma. -- Part I. What's left?: Arts of noticing -- Contamination as collaboration -- Some problems with scale -- Interlude : smelling. -- Part II. After progress : salvage accumulation: Working the edge -- Freedom ... -- Open ticket, Oregon -- War stories -- What happened to the state? : two kinds of Asian Americans. ... in translation -- Between the dollar and the yen -- From gifts to commodities- and back -- Salvage rhythms : business in disturbance -- Interlude : tracking. -- Part III: Disturbed beginnings : unintentional design: The life of the forest -- Coming up among pines ... -- History -- Resurgence -- Serendipity -- Ruin -- ... in gaps and patches -- Science as translation -- Flying spores -- Interlude : dancing. -- Part IV. In the middle of things: Matsutake crusaders : waiting for fungal action -- Ordinary assets -- Anti-ending : some people I met along the way -- Spore trail : the further adventures of a mushroom.