I am a big fan of traditional field guides and especially enjoy those that go a bit beyond the normal species description and identification info. When I heard about A Field Guide to Surreal Botany, edited by Jason Erik Lundberg and Janet Chui, I thought it might be kind of cool but was worried about the blend of fantasy and nature. The description, "an anthology of fictional plant species that exist beyond the realm of the real", suggested all sorts of possibilities but nothing - NOTHING - could have prepared me for the final product. This book is flat out gorgeous (Chui's illustrations are elegant dreams and the whole design is reminiscent of a 19th century guide from faux watermarks to sepia toned pages) but it is the cheekiness of the plant descriptions, the humor and deep intellect at work on every page, that put it way over the top for me. It could have just been pure fantasy but the editors clearly had another vision, one that comes as close to an actual field guide as you can get while still remaining firmly fictional. Consider this note for the "Screaming Mimi" (by Yvonne Pronovost):

A small sub-set of Screaming Mimis found in the suburbs of Edmonton, Alberta, have, through selective breeding by punks and gardeners with a sense of humor, been altered so that the usual high-pitched scream has been replaced with something with sounds suspiciously like 'sod off!'

Certainly fictional and yet written with such a level of seriousness, as if dictated by a botanist, that it gives readers pause to be impressed by this brief two-page description. The whole book is like this, one step above what you expect, one step beyond what you planned to discover in the brief entries.

A lot of naturalists (real and not) are name-dropped here, from Sir Thomas Hackenberry (of a fictional ill-fated 1855 African expedition) to Darwin (of course), to James Bruce (who spent more than a decade actually exploring Africa) to Sir Richard Burton, who not surprisingly fits right in. It is these inclusions, all the bits of backstory concerning the discovery or use of the plants, that I found most compelling. Consider this bit from "Couch Kelp" (by Jonathan Wonham):

The couches are generally not as robust as they look and cases of asphyxia are known. There is, however a story that tells how JFK and Marilyn Monroe were swimming off the coast of Florida and found a free-floating Couch Kelp. They apparently sat in it sun-bathing for several hours.

I could go on and on about the excellent work here - about all the care put into making the entries read as authentic but the sly hints and literary winks that let readers know they are in on some cool joke with the writers. Lundberg and Chui show with A Field Guide to Surreal Botany just how many wonderful things can be done when you lavish care and attention on a literary project. This is a small press title that exceeded all of my expectations and has easily become one of my favorite reads this year. It's a delight; irresistible on every level. Fantasy fans will enjoy it for sure but if you are looking for something special for the plant lovers in your life (especially those with a sense of humor) then you should but this book. It will be completely unexpected and wholly adored.