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176 of 181 found the following review helpful:
 Slightly Disappointed Oct 16, 2003
By DigitalSorceress
On the whole, this book is interesting and informative, but I was slightly disappointed with the logical layout. The information in the book is fairly detailed and interesting, but is presented in a narrative manner. The book takes a season/habitat based approach... I guess I was expecting a more trait-based heirarchical listing system. Something that would facilitate taking an unknown plant and quickly looking up the answers to "what is it? is it edible? is it medicinal? if so, what are the details" The approach also tends to give details on a few interesting / especially good flavored or nutricious plants and then gives a names-only grocery list of "Edible and medicinal plants" and then one of "For Observation only" So, in summary, if you know a bit about general plant identification and your focus is on what's available for the season and habitat, this book is a valuable resource, but if you're looking for a field identification and classification tool, this is probably not the best choice.
94 of 95 found the following review helpful:
 One of the top 10 herb books in print. Jun 29, 1999
By Charles Garcia
As a professional herbalist and herbal teacher I have over two hundred herbals and field guides at my disposal. Steve "Wildman" Brill leads the field in combining an herbal and edible plant field guide, which is readable, comprehensive, and most important ACCURATE. His final chapter of recipes will make most readers want to head into the backcountry just to find the proper edibles. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for the beginner or the professional herbalist.
53 of 54 found the following review helpful:
Very nice Jun 22, 2005
By Damosurfer
Although a little on the introductory side, I really enjoyed this book. I am a researcher in botany areas and I can say that the author does a great job at describing and aiding to identify and separate useful plants from obnoxious look-alikes. Somebody here suggested that the book could be organized in some hierarchical form. That is equivalent of a botanical taxonomy key. It would be great but there are keys for the purpose of organizing the info and helping to pick plants apart. I don't think it is essential here.
Somebody else said that the pretty drawings are only on the cover... is there a more literal analog of "judging the book by its cover"? While the drawings inside are black and white they serve the purpose. They are very well drawn and they are useful in identifying the plant in question. Tha author is also very conscientious and will not hesitate to say he doesn't know something and advices caution when pertinent. Excellent job.
The bottom line: it is very interesting, well organized and it sparks your curiosity. And if you wish to have a deeper treaty on any particular topic or plant you can always refer to a more specialized publication. $15? You can't go wrong.
37 of 37 found the following review helpful:
No Need for Color Photos Aug 25, 2002
I love this book. I bought it about four years ago and it inspired an interest in plants that has led me to pursue a bachelors in botany. It is an incredibly informative resource about plants but it also contains enough of the author's personal experiences and pearls of wisdom to make it a lovely book to curl up with. Maybe I have an odd sense of humor but this book elicits a chuckle every time I open it. The pictures are black and white line drawings but they are very detailed, much more helpful than the often out of focus color photos in a lot of other plant id books. Plant identification requires patience and attention to detail and this book provides the details needed for accuracy. It is important to keep in mind that if you are identifying plants in order to harvest them you should always always always check more than one reference before eating them. This book is not only worth the cost, it is the best edible wild plant resource available.
104 of 115 found the following review helpful:
 Don't waste your money Jan 12, 2007
By Daniel Remer
"DJR"
While the author seems like a nice guy, I found this book to be an expensive rip. Aside from the fact that it is printed cheaply on thick newsprint, the author should have named it, "Plants I like in Central Park". It is clear that he has spent little time west of the rockies, let alone west of Central Park where most of his endearing anecdotes originate.
The author continually makes unsupported statements about "Indians or native americans'" use of plants "for female reproductive problems". Give me a break. What is a reader supposed to do with that so called knowlege?
The book is too big to be a field guide, and so disorganized that it is very hard to extract useful information. The biggest fault, however, is that it really only pays lip service to the western half of the USA, and it should have stated so in the title.
I'm going to try to sell mine asap.
dan
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