Reviews

This book is showing its age in terms of some of the language used and some broad generalizations about the continent of Africa, but it's an intriguing premise and a fascinating lens through which to examine human development.

The writing has its ups and downs. The reconstruction of Johnny Appleseed as a Dionysian mythical figure was an interesting exercise, but the chapter on tulips felt uneven and took a long time getting anywhere. The chapter on weed was fun and thought-provoking, but certainly the most effective and important writing was done on the parallels of the Irish potato famine and our monoculture-dependent society. Pollan's examination of corporate ownership and biotech feels just (if not more) relevant than when he wrote this 20 years ago.

jimmacsyr's review

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5.0

Very good book. How specific plants benefit from our intervention. Also how uniformity causes problems. Goes into lots of background information on social/economic issues that drove the interest in the plants discussed.

cynthiatainsh's review

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5.0

This was so interesting- I learned a lot of things that I had never thought about before. The author writes so intriguingly about plants and has such a great imagination, while presenting some remarkable facts. Most of all, I started to get a picture of some of the possible consequences when mankind starts interfering with nature's ways.