I just Googled David Aurora Mushroom book, and immediately found the
reference: Mushrooms Demystified.

Daniel B. Wheeler
wrote:
> -L. wrote:
> > wrote:
> > > The "Hen" is one of our favorite edible mushrooms of the fall. It fits
> > > our modus operandi regarding eating wild mushrooms. The only thing it
> > > is likely to be mistaken for is a pile of dead leaves.
> > >
> > > js
> > >
> > > --
> > > PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.com/pow.htm
> >
> > Nice photo. I have a huge collection of photos of fungi I took when I
> > was in CA. I would love to identify all of them and start learning how
> > to ID edible mushrooms but I'm a bit afraid to eat any.
> >
> > -L.
> If you have saved the photos on a CD, you may try comparing them with
> the extensive listing of known fungi from California at the San
> Francisco Mycological Society. It helps to have a cursory idea of what
> general group of mushrooms you are trying to find, since most of the
> photos are arranged in alphabetical order. But there are good-qualify
> photos of at least 300 different species - enough to have you started,
> anyway. Once you have found something that looks similar to what you
> have found, you may be able to identify them easier. But you must get a
> good mushroom field guide to help. Audubon Field Guide to North
> American Mushrooms is good and fairly cheap, much better IMO is David
> Aurora's big book, as well as his "All The Rain Promises", which is
> cheaper than the big book but doesn't have as many important mushrooms
> in it.
>
> There is no single manual for identification of all known mushrooms in
> any area that I am aware of. Because of that, it takes several years of
> searching (preferably with people who have been looking more years than
> you) to feel comfortable identifying a new mushroom on site.
>
> Daniel B. Wheeler