John Cage: A Mycological Foray

Featured spreads are reproduced from bookseller favorite John Cage: A Mycological Foray—Variations on Mushrooms, the drop-dead gorgeous, slipcased, two-volume set published by Atelier Éditions. "I have come to the conclusion that much can be learned about music by devoting oneself to the mushroom," Cage writes in Music Lovers' Field Companion, reproduced in the book alongside other writings and a wealth of mushroom-themed compositions by Cage, photographs, illustrations, ephemera and a second volume reproducing Cage’s 1972 portfolio, Mushroom Book. "For this purpose, I have recently moved to the country," Cage continues. "Much of my time is spent poring over 'field companions' on fungi. These I obtain at half price in second-hand bookshops, which later are in some rare cases next door to shops selling dog-eared sheets of music, such an occurrence being greeted by me as irrefutable evidence that I am on the right track."