getwokingham - Reading Evening Post

The article http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/02/2 reports that Nicholas Evans, who wrote the Horse Whisperer, is pretty poorly after picking and eating some wild mushrooms in Scotland. 

He chose fool’s webcap mushrooms which, according to the bible that is Wikipedia, have a nutty rich flavour and also a poison which causes burning on the tongue, renal failure and vomiting.

The mushroom munchers need to be hospitalised and have kidney dialysis and, if untreated, the poisoning can be fatal.

Bad times.

I have to say if it’s a choice between money-saving and, er, being alive, I know which one I’d choose. 

I'm certainly having second thoughts about foraging. 

Although, as one of my fellow reporters suggested, perhaps Nicholas’ mushroom-eating was a fairly fundamental cause of the inspiration to write a book about whispering horses...