Response to First 9 Pages of Weschler

      My first impression of this text was an outpouingr of information. It was all interesting, but seemed spread out all over the place. The only connecting theme was the author mentioning the spores of the Tomentella fungus. I found it interesting, but wondered what I was supposed to be taking from it. Interesting disorganized information can be fun to read, but I wondered what the point was.
      By the end of the reading, I realized that Weschler was describing the spores because they relate to an operation called the Museum of Jurassic Technology. I predict that the title of the book, Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder, will either turn out to be another name for the museum or a cabinet found inside the museum. Perhaps the spores are one of the pieces of technology found in the museum; or maybe they are a way of setting the character of the place, that it is old or untouched or that it features relics and specimens from all over the world, even things from remote jungles.  I believe that Weschler began the book in this way to introduce what I predict will be his ethnography of the Museum of Jurassic TechnologyWeschler did not describe the spores by their appearance or physical attributes, but introduced them with a kind of free association (interesting stories related to the spores). While it was a somewhat confusing opening to the book, it was effective because it grabbed my interest.