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A review by libellum_aphrodite
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
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.