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soniagracelm's review against another edition
3.0
A good book for avid gardeners, but it left me a little unsatisfied. Pollan is very pleased with his own writing style. As a consequence, the tone is a little pompous. It's full of information, but he really beats the reader over the head with some of his points, and he likes telling personal anecdotes so much that it's almost a memoir. I liked it well enough to finish it, and it is well-written, but I wouldn't recommend it for everyone.
applegnreads's review against another edition
3.0
The first book of the science book group. Not bad but not surprising either.
libellum_aphrodite's review against another edition
3.0
After the mind-blowing [b:How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence|36613747|How to Change Your Mind What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence|Michael Pollan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545030338l/36613747._SY75_.jpg|58370652] earlier this year, I was eager for more Michael Pollan. This is one of his earlier works, and it feels like he's still coming into the wringer Pollan we know and love, with some foreshadowing of both [b:The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals|3109|The Omnivore's Dilemma A Natural History of Four Meals|Michael Pollan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1393804353l/3109._SY75_.jpg|3287769] and How To Change Your Mind here.
Nevertheless a cute and informative read with excellent storytelling.
* Apples: Having heard all the Johnny Appleseed kids tales, the more historically accurate version was a riot to learn, especially when you cast him in the lens of a shrewd frontier real estate snatching Dionysus.
* Tulips: I must say, I skipped half this chapter. I just couldn't quite get into the Dutch turn-on for tulips, though found the fury quite humorous.
* Marijuana: The evolution of legality issues over this plant are a saga to themselves and a testament to human ingenuity of plant engineering. If humans want to have something, it seems they will find a way, even if it's subverting natural habitats and sexual processes of a plant species.
* Potatoes: Our first encounter with the villain Monsanto, and an introduction to my new biodiversity heroes, Inca farmers. The comparison of organic farming versus monoculture + genetic engineering is striking: even I, as someone who isn't terribly horrified by GMOs in principle, feel propping up unsustainable practices is not a good enough reason to use them.
Nevertheless a cute and informative read with excellent storytelling.
* Apples: Having heard all the Johnny Appleseed kids tales, the more historically accurate version was a riot to learn, especially when you cast him in the lens of a shrewd frontier real estate snatching Dionysus.
* Tulips: I must say, I skipped half this chapter. I just couldn't quite get into the Dutch turn-on for tulips, though found the fury quite humorous.
* Marijuana: The evolution of legality issues over this plant are a saga to themselves and a testament to human ingenuity of plant engineering. If humans want to have something, it seems they will find a way, even if it's subverting natural habitats and sexual processes of a plant species.
* Potatoes: Our first encounter with the villain Monsanto, and an introduction to my new biodiversity heroes, Inca farmers. The comparison of organic farming versus monoculture + genetic engineering is striking: even I, as someone who isn't terribly horrified by GMOs in principle, feel propping up unsustainable practices is not a good enough reason to use them.
dapplezee's review
5.0
I picked up The Botany of Desire at the library following txkimmers's recommendation. This is an incredibly cool set of four essays on plants and people: apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes.
Pollan does a great job turning around our usual view of "domesticated" plants. We usually see ourselves manipulating plants to serve our needs, making the plant just another tool. As he points out, plants aren't just hapless bystanders here. They have their own agenda, to reproduce!, and every plant that finds a way to get humans to help it along is using us, too.
There's some great stories here. I had no idea Johnny Appleseed was such a character, and so totally different from the image that our grade-school books promote. The exploration of Monsanto's genetically engineered potato -- how they make them, how they're grown, why they're attractive to the US market -- was both creepy and cool. Do I really want to be eating these? And how will I even know?
Pollan does a great job turning around our usual view of "domesticated" plants. We usually see ourselves manipulating plants to serve our needs, making the plant just another tool. As he points out, plants aren't just hapless bystanders here. They have their own agenda, to reproduce!, and every plant that finds a way to get humans to help it along is using us, too.
There's some great stories here. I had no idea Johnny Appleseed was such a character, and so totally different from the image that our grade-school books promote. The exploration of Monsanto's genetically engineered potato -- how they make them, how they're grown, why they're attractive to the US market -- was both creepy and cool. Do I really want to be eating these? And how will I even know?
feeflebrief's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
Reads a bit more like a memoir, but still full of interesting (if a bit outdated) information.