Bayou Bytes Blog

The full title of this truffle-based true crime exposé is Truffle Underground: A Tale of  Mystery, Mayhem, and Manipulation in the Shadowy Market of the World's Most Expensive Fungus , and it makes the topic of this book pretty clear. Being personally averse to anything resembling a mushroom, I have always avoided truffles. But even I've heard the hype, and heard how expensive they are. So when I saw this book promising to reveal the secrets of the truffle, I needed to know.  Ryan Jacobs was certainly in danger as he investigated the truffle trade. He stumbled upon farmer feuds, sabotage, and all kinds of shady dealings. He also revealed how such a black market could exist in the first place. In short, I learned 1.) truffles are nearly impossible to cultivate, and 2.) once you harvest a truffle, it degrades incredibly fast. If you're lucky enough to grow one, you have to sell it immediately . And from these two truths spring all kinds of plots to steal truffles from other f...

...he was collecting wrestlers. We were his newest trophies. If you didn't want to be displayed on his wall, he threatened to ruin you. Foxcatcher: The True Story of My Brother's Murder, John du Pont's Madness, and the Quest for Olympic Gold by Mark Schultz  with David Thomas Mark Schultz is a gifted wrestler, like his amiable brother Dave, but he struggles to find steady financial support-- even as he wins world titles and Olympic gold. Enter John E du Pont, an eccentric Pennsylvania benefactor with a raging inferiority complex. Foxcatcher is part sports-story, part true crime -- the book opens with a killing and closes with trial-- but ultimately, it's an angry, shake-your-fist-at-the-sky, push-your-papers-off-your-desk-and-scream autobiography. Mark Schultz's brother, Dave, is shot and killed by John E du Pont, the mad, rich philanthropic Pennsylvania heir to the du Pont family fortune. To date, he's the wealthiest man ever convicted of m...