Medically Important Fungi: A Guide to Identification – 5th Edition

Abstract

Written by Davise H. Larone, PhD 485 pages. Washington, DC: ASM Press, 2011. $109.95. ISBN: 978-1555816605. This book is like a fine wine: it gets better with age, and fungi are the main reason. As the master crafts(wo)man critically reviews each year’s harvest and the wine produced, so has Dr Larone critically reviewed each edition of Medically Important Fungi: A Guide to Identification and produced a superior product in the next vintage. I remember the early editions of this text, with their soft covers, and how beaten and worn they were by the time the next edition had been published. The author of a bench-top guide could not ask for a greater compliment. I am always concerned when transitions are made from the softcover to the hardcover edition of a book. Too often, the formerly well-thumbed guide is transformed by …