Dr. Money is wonderfully funny, yet very detailed. He admits that he started out investigating toxic mold as a skeptical professional mycologist, but concedes that although the media and legal hype are excessive, there is something there to be concerned about - the spores and other bits of the common black mold Stachybotrys chartarum and related species really do contain trichothenes and other very nasty compounds, and although not quite a smoking gun in cases of infant pulmonary hemorrhage, are at least a piece lying on the floor near the body with a whiff of cordite still lingering in the barrel.


Money has written several books on fungi, and based on this one I will definitely be picking the others up. Here he concentrates on only those molds of interest to the legal profession. There’s a very professional and detailed discussion of how allergic responses work, and Money makes it clear that although allergy is bad enough molds can also produce actual toxins - poisons that are not dependent on allergic response to work. He’s careful to maintain skepticism, and cites cases of outright fraud in mold litigation claims. All through this he maintains a very dry sense of humor: here’s some examples -


“The stench of decay produced by indoor molds is difficult to describe, but might (I’m guessing) bear some similarity to a sumo wrestler’s laundry basket.”

“If invigorating one’s immune system with high doses of fungal walls is shown to fight disease, I’ll be the first to strip naked and dive into a tub of mushrooms.”

“Like most Americans I am opposed to vivisection, with the caveat that if it is necessary to slay a flock of bunnies with a lawnmower to keep my carcass running for an extra decade, thenn ladies and gentlemen start your engines.”

Some of the chapters don’t quite hang together; I wonder if they were originally separate essays? Although all the references are cited in endnotes, there’s no separate bibliography or recommended reading list. Minor quibbles - four stars at least, and I want to do some more reading on fungal taxonomy. ( )