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A review by scribepub
The Way Through The Woods: Of Mushrooms And Mourning by Long Litt Woon
This is one of the most surprising and original books I have read in a long time — so much to learn and reflect about the human condition and about a natural phenomenon.
Knut Olav Åmås (Norwegian Critic, Commentator, and Writer)
It is poetic, warm and moving, and steeped in life wisdom.
Sissel Gran (Norwegian Psychologist and Author)
[A] heartfelt and honest account of overcoming loss that will give hope to readers in a simple, yet profound way. In her beautifully written first book, Long shares a way to feel anew by setting foot on a different path, discovering a spark of joy, and finding meaning again. Readers who appreciate the journeys through grief found in memoirs like Cheryl Strayed’s Wild (2012) or Shannon Leone Fowler’s Traveling with Ghosts (2017) should pick this up.
Melissa Norstedt, Booklist
Anyone with an interest in the natural world will delight in Long’s sharp-eyed descriptions (and line drawings) of fungi and her therapeutic rambles through Norwegian woods. A wonder-inducing dive into the unique kingdom of fungi.
Kirkus
In her search for new meaning in life after the death of her husband, Long Litt Woon undertook the study of mushrooms. What she found in the woods, and expresses with such tender joy in this heartfelt memoir, was nothing less than salvation.
Eugenia Bone, author of Mycophilia and Microbia
In this enchanting debut memoir, anthropologist Long tells of her life in Norway after the sudden death of her 54-year-old husband left her “alone in the world”. A beginner’s course in mushrooming was an unexpected life raft, leading her to find community and a sense of meaning while wandering the woods ... This unique tale of rebirth after loss doubles as a riveting foray into the world of mushrooming.
Publishers Weekly
This thoughtful, touching account explores Woon’s experience learning mushroom foraging in the aftermath of tragedy ... With charming sketches of the various mushrooms Woon encounters, this moving memoir explores one woman’s journey through grief and will please fans of personal narratives as well as those who may be interested in mushroom foraging.
Venessa Hughes, Library Journal
Among the 20 “utterly engrossing” non-fiction books for the summer of 2019.
Bookbub
One of the most beautiful books of the year. A touching and funny story which also is familiar because it touches on one of the most common and dreaded experiences. A scholarly and literary work to embellish your life.
Bookstore Le Square in Grenoble
Poetic, moving, original. One of the books we talked about this year.
L’Escapade Bookstore
An ode to resilience, humour and change.
Simple Things
Long Litt Woon delivers, in addition to an accurate mycology, a little lesson in wisdom.
Hebdo Books
Existential questions as tasty as morels.
L’Obs
An informative and playful book, sensitive and without pathos. Long Litt Woon’s enthusiasm is highly contagious.
Tela Botanica
A jewel.
La revue numérique de l’alca
She can make her subject captivating by pressing all the buttons of the curious reader of nature.
Cri de l’ormeau
Remarkable, pedagogical, original, delightful.
Voyage dans les lettres nordiques
The Way Through the Woods will make a lovely gift for the curious bushwalker, recently bereaved person, or even the niche hobbyist in your life.
Georgia Delaney, Readings
When Malaysian-born anthropologist Long Litt Woon’s husband of 32 years dropped dead at work one summer’s morning, she lost not only the love of her life but her passport to society in her adopted home of Norway. Numb with grief, she had only platitudes to navigate her way through the wilderness of bereavement – until she found unexpected joy and a new tribe of friends who shared an offbeat interest: picking mushrooms in the Norwegian woods.
Andrea Ripper, Courier Mail
A Malaysian woman mourns the death of her Norwegian husband by foraging for mushrooms—from morels to Yellow Knights—in this singular memoir in which the author becomes a “traveler in the fungi kingdom”.
The Oprah Magazine, ‘10 August Books You Should Read Right Now’
There’s something of the really life fairytale about the way mushrooms guided Long Litt Woon through the woods of grief after her husband’s sudden death ... “To feel the flow is to find meaning, and to find meaning is to quiet and transform the storm inside.” In this way, mushrooming becomes an apt and mysterious metaphor for mourning’s “fieldwork of the heart” and the unexpected consolations it can yield.
Fiona Capp, The Age
[W]ritten by an exceptional woman who deigns to let us in on her unusual way through grief ... you will learn a lot about how she perceives people (indeed they appear to be her favourite subject second only to fungi) and her notes on human existence will delight and humour you ... you will also learn more about mushrooms than you ever knew you needed. [Woon] balances hefty scientific antidotes with the truly fantastic places her mushroom research has taken her. From perfumers to poison guides, there is nothing Woon will describe that won’t leave you hungry for more. A truly wonderful book about life and grief and mushrooms, The Way Through The Woods deserves all the praise it has been reaping and more.
Rave Cay Lane Wren, The Seattle Book Review
Woon writes about meeting new friends happy to wander through the Norwegian woods with her, spellbound by the hunt. As peculiar as that may sound to most people, mushroom hunters will understand immediately the peculiar joy of discovering fungi, especially rare ones, deep in the beautiful and mysterious woods ... Long is a poetic writer who melds what at first seem to be the most disparate possible topics into a profound and beautiful memoir, and one that is not at all just for mushroom enthusiasts.
Rave Newsday
Knut Olav Åmås (Norwegian Critic, Commentator, and Writer)
It is poetic, warm and moving, and steeped in life wisdom.
Sissel Gran (Norwegian Psychologist and Author)
[A] heartfelt and honest account of overcoming loss that will give hope to readers in a simple, yet profound way. In her beautifully written first book, Long shares a way to feel anew by setting foot on a different path, discovering a spark of joy, and finding meaning again. Readers who appreciate the journeys through grief found in memoirs like Cheryl Strayed’s Wild (2012) or Shannon Leone Fowler’s Traveling with Ghosts (2017) should pick this up.
Melissa Norstedt, Booklist
Anyone with an interest in the natural world will delight in Long’s sharp-eyed descriptions (and line drawings) of fungi and her therapeutic rambles through Norwegian woods. A wonder-inducing dive into the unique kingdom of fungi.
Kirkus
In her search for new meaning in life after the death of her husband, Long Litt Woon undertook the study of mushrooms. What she found in the woods, and expresses with such tender joy in this heartfelt memoir, was nothing less than salvation.
Eugenia Bone, author of Mycophilia and Microbia
In this enchanting debut memoir, anthropologist Long tells of her life in Norway after the sudden death of her 54-year-old husband left her “alone in the world”. A beginner’s course in mushrooming was an unexpected life raft, leading her to find community and a sense of meaning while wandering the woods ... This unique tale of rebirth after loss doubles as a riveting foray into the world of mushrooming.
Publishers Weekly
This thoughtful, touching account explores Woon’s experience learning mushroom foraging in the aftermath of tragedy ... With charming sketches of the various mushrooms Woon encounters, this moving memoir explores one woman’s journey through grief and will please fans of personal narratives as well as those who may be interested in mushroom foraging.
Venessa Hughes, Library Journal
Among the 20 “utterly engrossing” non-fiction books for the summer of 2019.
Bookbub
One of the most beautiful books of the year. A touching and funny story which also is familiar because it touches on one of the most common and dreaded experiences. A scholarly and literary work to embellish your life.
Bookstore Le Square in Grenoble
Poetic, moving, original. One of the books we talked about this year.
L’Escapade Bookstore
An ode to resilience, humour and change.
Simple Things
Long Litt Woon delivers, in addition to an accurate mycology, a little lesson in wisdom.
Hebdo Books
Existential questions as tasty as morels.
L’Obs
An informative and playful book, sensitive and without pathos. Long Litt Woon’s enthusiasm is highly contagious.
Tela Botanica
A jewel.
La revue numérique de l’alca
She can make her subject captivating by pressing all the buttons of the curious reader of nature.
Cri de l’ormeau
Remarkable, pedagogical, original, delightful.
Voyage dans les lettres nordiques
The Way Through the Woods will make a lovely gift for the curious bushwalker, recently bereaved person, or even the niche hobbyist in your life.
Georgia Delaney, Readings
When Malaysian-born anthropologist Long Litt Woon’s husband of 32 years dropped dead at work one summer’s morning, she lost not only the love of her life but her passport to society in her adopted home of Norway. Numb with grief, she had only platitudes to navigate her way through the wilderness of bereavement – until she found unexpected joy and a new tribe of friends who shared an offbeat interest: picking mushrooms in the Norwegian woods.
Andrea Ripper, Courier Mail
A Malaysian woman mourns the death of her Norwegian husband by foraging for mushrooms—from morels to Yellow Knights—in this singular memoir in which the author becomes a “traveler in the fungi kingdom”.
The Oprah Magazine, ‘10 August Books You Should Read Right Now’
There’s something of the really life fairytale about the way mushrooms guided Long Litt Woon through the woods of grief after her husband’s sudden death ... “To feel the flow is to find meaning, and to find meaning is to quiet and transform the storm inside.” In this way, mushrooming becomes an apt and mysterious metaphor for mourning’s “fieldwork of the heart” and the unexpected consolations it can yield.
Fiona Capp, The Age
[W]ritten by an exceptional woman who deigns to let us in on her unusual way through grief ... you will learn a lot about how she perceives people (indeed they appear to be her favourite subject second only to fungi) and her notes on human existence will delight and humour you ... you will also learn more about mushrooms than you ever knew you needed. [Woon] balances hefty scientific antidotes with the truly fantastic places her mushroom research has taken her. From perfumers to poison guides, there is nothing Woon will describe that won’t leave you hungry for more. A truly wonderful book about life and grief and mushrooms, The Way Through The Woods deserves all the praise it has been reaping and more.
Rave Cay Lane Wren, The Seattle Book Review
Woon writes about meeting new friends happy to wander through the Norwegian woods with her, spellbound by the hunt. As peculiar as that may sound to most people, mushroom hunters will understand immediately the peculiar joy of discovering fungi, especially rare ones, deep in the beautiful and mysterious woods ... Long is a poetic writer who melds what at first seem to be the most disparate possible topics into a profound and beautiful memoir, and one that is not at all just for mushroom enthusiasts.
Rave Newsday