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jess_mango's review against another edition
4.0
"The Botany of Desire" was an interesting read but it still didn't top my favorite Pollan book, "The Omnivore's Dilemna". Pollan wrote Botany before Omnivore and in this earlier work, explores the human relationship with four different domesticated plants: tulips, apples, potatoes, and marijuana. There's a touch of social history and tales of the author's own experiences with growing each plant. The potato section had many common themes with Pollan's later books: Omnivore and In Defense of Food.
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
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.