It is a rare science book that evokes such an emotional response in me. "Beak of the Finch" by Jonathan Weiner is one, and "The Botany of Desire" is another. Pollan's discussion of four archetypal plants (apple, tulip, marijuana and potato) and our shared history with them makes for some wonderfully interesting reading. He has a great gift for allegory and metaphor, and these plants became real characters that I cared about deeply. Sprinkled with just the kind of details that I love most, the book reads like a daydream of a letter from home. Here are some examples of what I mean: the fact that without flowers there would be no mammals, which is likely the reason we human beings are partial to flowers, the overpowering smell of a marijuana hothouse in Amsterdam, the trick the French king used to encourage his starving people to eat the feared novel food from the new world: potatoes (he posted armed guards around his potato garden, but only during the day), that the beauty of a highly prized variegated tulip (worth the price of a house in today's terms) is due to viral infection, and a very chilling, yet compassionate description of industrial farming and the men who run these farms.

I bored my husband silly while I read this book, because it was just one of those books that is so fascinating you kind of can't stop yourself from saying stuff like, "HEY! Did you know marijuana growers expose their crops to 24 hours of light for the first few weeks and that they can bring a crop to maturity in 8 weeks?"

Eventually, Pollan reveals the full impact of our actions on the plant society. Not in a pedantic way, but with a brand of kindness and hope that we will understand the stewardship role that we have always had in our relationship with the plant world. The last lines of this book put it too beautifully for me to paraphrase, when he cites again the charming eccentric Johnny 'Appleseed' Chapman, and his voyage that encouraged and sustained so many of America's young cities. "I'm thinking specifically of the way he rigged up his canoe...the two hulls side by side, so that the weight of the appleseeds balanced the weight of the man, each helping to keep the other steady on the river. Laughable as an example of naval architecture, perhaps, but seaworthy as a metaphor, surely. Chapman's craft, his example, invites us to imagine a very different kind of story about man and nature: one that shrinks the distance between the two so that we might again begin to see them for what they are, and in spite of everything, will always be, which is in this boat together."

Like flowering plants, this book is beautiful, gentle, and, if people listen, world changing.

Don't miss this book.

This is a book for gardeners and people interested in history of our country.
There are four plants that changed the world. An easy read with much information. Your ideas on Johnny Appleseed will change and very pleasantly. Also on the potato. Do read this and share with friends. I have given this as a gift many times.

It tends to ramble in the philosophical arena, but I found his writing well researched and the questions thoughtful and thought provoking. I would recommend it for a book club or philosphy group.

Mr Pollan had a great idea for a book--evolution of 4 different species of well know plants from the plant's perspective as influenced by humans. There's about 30 pages of good information to this end. The rest is horribly long and painful unrelated tangents that he clearly enjoys writing about, but have absolutely nothing to do with the subject. For instance, in covering apples he talks for freggen ever about John Chapaman, aka Johnny Appleseed. Who cares about Appleseed's sexual frustrations with a potential 10 year old bride??? Who cares about his love of sleeping in hollowed out logs, or on the snow if sleeping in the log would disturb some insects??? If you're ridiculously bored and don't mind reading about random garbage you might like this book. If you're looking for enlightenment on this subject or like a well executed book, don't even think about this one.

I was continuously amused and enlightened about many things in this book; suffice it to say I dog-eared quite a few pages as I wanted to go back to re-read certain passages for the perspective, perhaps for the phrasing, or for the knowledge.

Humans certainly have the desire and the ability to bend nature, but a good lesson learned in this book is to let nature be itself, even as you make it do your bidding!

In style and substance this is one of the best books I've read in recent years, as well as one of the most enjoyable. It also broadened my perspective in several areas. I highly recommend.

In "The Botany of Desire", author and gardener Michael Pollan turns the tables on our view of domesticated species by presenting a would-be "plant's eye view of the world". His premise is that humans may have a more reciprocal relationship with domesticated plants than we like to believe. Perhaps the plants use us to propagate themselves as we use them to satisfy our desires. To explore this idea, Pollan recounts the horticultural histories and the human desires that created them for 4 domesticated plant species: the apple, which satisfies our desire for sweetness, the tulip, cultivated for its beauty, marijuana, for intoxication, and the potato, which gives us control. A fruit, a flower, a drug, and a staple food.

Pollan dedicates a section of the book to each of the 4 plants. The histories of the species are not comprehensive but focus on key events which affected its "artificial selection" and made the plants what they are today. For example, the history of the apple focuses on the introduction of seedlings onto the American frontier by Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman in the early 19th century, spawning an explosion of edible species from what were originally trees planted to make applejack. The section on the tulip predictably talks about "Tulipmania" in 1630s Holland, usually cited as the first "bubble" of the modern global economy, but also addresses the "Tulip Era" in Constantinople, funny and failed attempts to make the tulip useful, and the unending quest for a black tulip.

Likewise, the section on marijuana focuses on the tremendous advances in horticulture spawned by the War on Drugs that forced growers indoors in the 1980s. The discussion of the potato is particularly timely, as it talks about the genetically modified NewLeaf potato, which includes genes from Bt bacterium whose toxin is lethal to the Colorado potato beetle. This potato is designed to rescue the agricultural industry from its toxic and unsustainable strategy of pesticides and fertilizers. It's also designed to prolong the viability of monoculture, around which much of the agricultural industry in built but which is historically and currently problematic.

An interesting aspect of the evolution of these domesticated species is that three of four of them are cloned species, not planted from seeds or allowed to reproduce sexually. They're in trouble for lack of genetic diversity. They've been over-domesticated. So we shall see if Michael Pollan's thesis that the plants have put us in their service as much as we have them holds up. It seems we've made them quite vulnerable. But that premise provides an interesting entry into the subject of horticulture. Michael Pollan is opinionated, and everyone will not agree with his view of marijuana or NewLeaf potatoes, but I do think readers will see his point. "The Botany of Desire" is thought-provoking and timely.

The connections between plants and people are fascinating. Michael Pollan writes so well, I was pulled through the book. This is a view of the web of life that I haven't seen before. Highly recommended. Another book I enjoyed some time back (not by Pollan) is "Biomimicry".

If you are at all interested in evolution and biology, and man's relationship with the natural world, this is a must-read. Pollan presents the material in a way that makes it digestible to individuals with only a lay-person's knowledge of science.

You'll notice that a huge majority of readers found this book to be informative, thought provoking, and even enjoyable. It's the type of reading material that sticks with you, and changes your view of the world. It has changed my eating habits and gardening routines. A very few people felt the book was worthless. Hmmmmmmm. Once you read the book you'll probably be able to figure out who those people are. Gee, I don't know... maybe anyone connected with the Monsanto Corporation? Or other greedy monoagriculturalists? Anyone who doesn't care one bit about the future of the planet, or the health of its people? Yup, there is surely a population out there that would take exception to the facts presented in this eye-opening book.

You'll notice that a huge majority of readers found this book to be informative, thought provoking, and even enjoyable. It's the type of reading material that sticks with you, and changes your view of the world. It has changed my eating habits and gardening routines. A very few people felt the book was worthless. Hmmmmmmm. Once you read the book you'll probably be able to figure out who those people are. Gee, I don't know... maybe anyone connected with the Monsanto Corporation? Or other greedy monoagriculturalists? Anyone who doesn't care one bit about the future of the planet, or the health of its people? Yup, there is surely a population out there that would take exception to the facts presented in this eye-opening book.

This was a gift,and what a great gift! I hear botanists say it is not a substantive book, but I am not a botanist! I loved it, everyone I loaned it to loved it. Made me look at my tulips and apples differently, and the birds and the bees and everything -- and as an organic gardener and cook it made me appreciate the natural thoughtfulness behind the varieties we grow and enjoy! Buy, read, and gift his book -- from 16 to 85 have enjoyed it!

The easy and subtle way this book allows readers to view life on earth from an entirely different perspective is unprecedented (at least I've never read anything like it.) Pollan's style is so smooth, so full of humor and humanity, it's impossible not to become totally captivated. Even for someone like myself who doesn't read a lot of non-fiction, this is a true page-turner. Pollan's hilarious and inspiring dissection of Johnny Appleseed, reality versus myth, is in itself worth the price of admission.

I can't say enough about this book. A history of four things that grow presented originally, thoughtfully, and thoroughly - as well as how they have influenced the culture of humanity (and the writing itself is excellent). Profound in many ways, this is a book that you will not be able to put down. Thank you, Michael Pollan.

I have had this book since 2003 and loaned or recommended it to all my friends. It is a great story that I zipped right though.

Pollan's writing is informative and pleasurable. Second Nature & Botany of Desire provide an interesting perspective on our relationship with other living things in the garden and larger natural world. His insightful observations about nature and biology will ring true for many, especially organic gardeners.

Botany of Desire was recommended to me last summer. It covers the stories of four plants: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. Interestingly, it reads similarly to The Beak of the Finch in that it discusses the nature of evolution. However, unlike the finches, the focus of this book is on how communion with humans, rather than isolation, has driven the evolution of these plants. While there are many items of interest in this book, I will primarily focus on what I did not know prior to reading it.

Apples
The story of the apple starts with John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed. What I didn't know here was that the apple was spread throughout the new world as a source of alcohol rather than food. It makes perfect historical sense, but I had never given it much thought. The "apple cider" and "applejack" about which I had previously read without consideration was a form of moonshine that was extremely potent and must have gone a long way towards making frontier life more bearable. The fact that apples spread the taste of "sweetness" was also something that I had not previously appreciated. Before the European honey bees swarmed the US, and before cane and beet sugar were available, most people would seldom get to taste that flavor, so it was to be savored.

Another thing that I didn't know about apples was that they don't breed true. Like most kids, I tried planting apple trees from seed, but I never stayed interested in the project for the 4-6 years it would take to actually get apples from the resulting progeny. If I had, I would have found out that each seed has randomized genetics, and therefore makes entirely different types of apples. (I now imagine each apple to be like Doctor Who, playing genetic Russian roulette with each seed.) So, all the apples we eat are cloned.

Tulips
The tulip story wasn't quite so interesting, because I was already aware of the tulip boom and associated economic disaster. What was interesting was the "college" system of bidding on tulips. Apparently, if you wanted to "invest" in tulip futures, you first went to the bar. (That would have been a huge warning for me but hey, I'm not Dutch, what do I know?) Once there, the seller and bidder would each write down a price, and hand the slates to a pair of trusted proxies. The proxies would then dicker over the price and return something that they thought was fair. If they both agreed, the deal went through and both parties paid a fee for doing business. If they both disagreed, the deal was canceled. If only one disagreed, he had to pay a fine. . . The fees and fines then went to buying drinks for everyone at the bar.

Yeah. Day trading looks like a reputable career in comparison.

Marijuana
The marijuana story was fascinating for someone who only ever thought of the plant as "ditch weed". Apparently, since it was criminalized, the "gardeners" have been tinkering with the genetics trying to balance the best of the different plants, maximizing the THC and minimizing the other toxic chemicals. The descriptions of modern grow rooms were astonishing, describing the millions of dollars in technology needed to grow these hybrids, the billions that they're worth and frighteningly, how growers get just as habituated to the cash flow and genetic improvement process as the buyers do to the product.

Another interesting side observation that Michael Pollan made was that the incidents of shamans/visionaries have gone down as global nutrition levels have gone up. Not sure if I buy the link, but it was interesting to consider.

Potato(e)s
The potato section was mostly about direct genetic manipulation by the Monsanto corporation. It's supposed to be a story about control, but actually reads like a story about blind hope and arrogance. It gets into a natural insecticide known as Bt that Monsanto merged into potato(e)s. While this has been around for millennia, it has never existed in sufficient concentration to promote evolutionary resistance until now. The nightmare scenario is that of breeding super-insects that are not only immune to our existing insecticides, but also immune to the natural ones -- resulting in a population explosion of pest-insects that utterly destroys the global food supply. Monsanto's answer is basically "we'll deal with that when it happens".

I can follow the logic, but have my doubts that it would get quite so bad. Again though, it's interesting to think about.

The other item of interest from this section was about "net necrosis" in Russet Burbanks. When I was young, I remember getting the occasional french fry that had a dark spot. This was caused by net necrosis -- a harmless spotting of the potato. The large fast food companies believe (probably correctly) that their customers do not like spotty fries, so they will refuse an entire batch if one potato shows this condition. So, to prevent this from happening, the commercial potato producers spray the entire field with nerve toxin, and keep all of their people out of the fields for up to five days to keep them from being killed.

Then they sell the potato(e)s to us to eat.

I already had potato(e)s on my "organic-only" list for pesticide reasons. After reading this book, they're going to stay there.

Generally
Really, most of the book was a fascinating read, but the only bit that probably changed my life is the net necrosis stuff. That said, it's a well written book and the author's voice rings through so it's more than a selection of facts. If you like plants, it's worth reading. If you don't like plants, but enjoy thinking, read it... you might start liking plants.

Of course, if you are botanophobic, you should avoid it (and I commend you for reading this far without fleeing in terror).

Michael Pollan is a journalist, a plant-lover, and a curious man. The combination of these results in some brilliant and enthralling prose on the human relation to plant life in a way that is new to the non-biologists in the audience.

I read this after reading "The Omnivore's Dilemina".
It's good. The tulip frenzy has been in the news lately and this has an interesting write up about that.

I also really enjoyed the write-up about apples! That's a bit of American History I didn't know about. I think it's a good read for someone interested in food.

If you come to this book with the right expectations, it is actually an
enjoyable read. This is not really a popular science book, since it does
not seemed to be balanced or sufficiently researched for the most part.
However, Pollan's writing is engaging and humorous. He does present
a number of interesting hypothesis, ranging from the thought provoking
to the silly.

Unfortunately, the first chapter on apples is the weakest in the
collection. However, the book does pick up in the next chapter, and I
think the last two chapters are the strongest. The chapter on potatoes
is engaging and, in parts, scary. It certainly needs to be taken with a
grain of salt. However, I think his main point that we simply do not
know what the long term effects of modern agricultural practices will
be is a sound one.

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan challenges the notion that mankind can control the natural world, subjugating plants to the will of the gardener. Through a discussion of four plants closely associated with human cultivation: apple, tulip, marijuana, and potato, Pollan demonstrates that organisms which possess traits desirable to the gardener have been able manipulate humans to cultivate them. Each plant has a different strategy for assuring that humans will continue to include it in their gardens. The apple, for example, is an extremely diverse species whose seeds contain millions of possible variations of both the fruit produced and the tree itself. Whether one is looking to make hard cider or munch on a crisp green fruit, the apple tree has the genetic code to produce the fruit humans look for.
In The Botany of Desire, Pollan focuses on the four plants mentioned above, placing each plant in a category, and explains how plants within that category possess characteristics which make them desirable to humans. The apple and other fruits appeal to our sense of taste, and, if fermented, our desire for inebriation. The tulip appeals to mankind's sense of beauty; marijuana, our desire to achieve an altered state of mind; the potato our need for nourishment and desire to genetically engineer crops. In short, each of these plants is successful in an evolutionary sense because it causes us to cultivate it.
Although Pollan's book is an intriguing read, I found it unsettling that he often rattles off facts and figures without citing a direct source, such as the assertion on page 219: "a potato farmer in Idaho spends roughly $1,950 an acre (mainly on chemicals, electricity and water)." Pollan does include a few pages of sources in the back of his book, but he could make a stronger argument that would stand up to academic scrutiny with the addition of endnotes.
In addition to a vast amount of research and traveling prior to writing this book, Pollan makes The Botany of Desire a quality literary work by using recurring themes to tie the four parts of the book together. Through returning to his garden at many points over the course of the book, Pollan is able to tie all four of his subjects into a common space. Approaching the reader as a fellow gardener gives him or her a sense of connection to Pollan and his garden. By the end of the book, I felt as though I knew Michael Pollan and his garden intimately. Another example of this continuity is Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry. Dionysus appears in both chapters one and three, were Pollan relates him to cider, Johnny Appleseed, and mind-altering substances.
Overall, Pollan's clear style and journalistic narrative flows easily and keeps the reader entertained throughout the book. He makes effective use of descriptive details and personal experiences to relate to the reader as he argues his theme of plants manipulating humans to include them in their gardens. The Botany of Desire is a must read for anyone interested in how plants we encounter on a daily basis cause us to cultivate them around the globe.

Started out liking the chapter on Apples, less the next and so on. It seemed like I was getting the same story in each chapter only more elaborate and wordy.

I am not a botanist.Yet. But the study of evolution is quite an exciting journey, made more exciting by the mind melting,eloquent ideas posed by Mr. Pollan. Bought the audio book version, and I can't stop listining to it. From the story of Johnyy Appleseed, to Holland in search of the history of Tulips, the Amazing Marijuana Plant, and the control of the Potato. Seemed random to me. Not any more. Incredible book.

Pollan's book is a vivid reminder of how intricately human society is woven into the ecological framework of the planet and in particular that of plants. His descriptions of how our societies have affected and been affected by just four plants opens up a series of thought-provoking questions to mull over the next time you find yourself in a garden, at the dinner table, or taking a walk outdoors. It's written with sensitivity towards those he disagrees with, and this gentle touch makes the story he's relating much more effective at prompting you as reader to engage. The weakest part of the book is the chapter on Tulips, but that is hard to criticize since the chapters on apples, marijuana and potatoes are so good.

Read this Book!

Human psychology from the plant's perspective? Yep. That's precisely the topic of this book. When our ancestors began breeding plants to serve our desires they inevitably laid those desires bare in the phenotypes in their gardens. Pollan is impressively aware of many current themes in evolutionary biology (e.g., the function of sexual reproduction), and admirably willing to tell a story with the patience and breadth it deserves (hence four 100-page chapters instead of the usual one hundred, A.D.D. 4-page chapters). This book is not for everyone, but if you have intellectual curiosity about why some plants have come to dominate our world, this book will give you many answers and even more tools. There's nothing better I can say about a book.

Michael Pollan has written a terrific four-part look at the relationship of plants and people. He examines four human desires - sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control - and plants that have satisfied those desires - the apple, the tulip, cannabis and the potato. He includes philosophy and history, retraces Johnny Appleseed's route, and has a frightening tour of commercial potato fields in Idaho (you may never eat another french fry after you read this section!) All in all, a fascinating and educational look at the relationship of people and plants.

A book club selection, and one of my favorites. This book is so much fun, so informative and entertaining. One that I recommend over and over again, becuase it so unique and so accessible. And I used 'so' a lot! Think sow seeds, ha.

Apples, potatoes, marijuana and Tulips! I will admit I would have enjoyed learning more about cocoa...we think we humans wield so much power.

A must read.

I now know more about apples, potatoes, marijuana and tulips that I ever thought I needed to know. Saw him speak at my local library. I'm now making it a point to buy produce from local growers. GO GREEN!

Pollan writes in an entertaining and informative manner that kept me turning pages well into the night. I highly recommend this book.

This book will change forever the way that you look at plants, and, in particular, those plants we have "domesticated" as our favorites. Michael Pollan has the gift of a fantastic storyteller and the imagination to see our relationship to plants in a novel way. He has thoroughly investigated the fascinating histories of four useful and familiar plant groups, ones you thought you already knew plenty about. Prepare to learn more!

This book is fantastic. It lets you appreciate the world from another point of view that you wouldnt normally think about. It makes you want to enjoy life even more. So get out there and enjoy all of lifes simple pleasures because they have been comming 4.5 billion years in the making. They are better than ever before today, and even better tomorrow. Who knows what the future holds. Some sort of super flower that we can eat, enjoy the beauty of, and smoke I would gather... but I doubt it in our lifetime.... soon though :).

This book is fantastic. It lets you appreciate the world from another point of view that you wouldnt normally think about. It makes you want to enjoy life even more. So get out there and enjoy all of lifes simple pleasures because they have been comming 4.5 billion years in the making. They are better than ever before today, and even better tomorrow. Who knows what the future holds. Some sort of super flower that we can eat, enjoy the beauty of, and smoke I would gather... but I doubt it in our lifetime.... soon though :).

I found this book a few years ago by accident, lucky me! The information contained in thei book was fascinating. Who would have thought so much of a potato?

I recently finished Botany of Desire and Pollan's more recent Omnivore's Dilemma. Both books are full of great factual information about what we eat, the implications of doing such, and the forces of nature that bind us tightly with other plants and animals. I loved both of these books. It opened my eyes to so many things that were both enlightening and, at times, frightening. Even though the content of both books is full of factual information, Pollan communicates it in a fashion that makes for an enjoyable read. I suggest getting them both.

I bought this book at the same time as I did the Omnivore's dilemma.

This is a clever book, a well-thought through and developed book, but it is more about the story of plants and people in interrelation, than about natural capitalism and sustainment. Hence, I think that the two books should NOT be recommended nor bought together.

I bought this book at the same time as I did the Omnivore's dilemma. My eyes glazed over by the end of the first part.

This is a clever book, a well-thought through and developed book, but it is more about the story of plants and people in spiritual interrelation, than about natural capitalism and sustainment. Hence, I think that the two books should NOT be recommended nor bought together.

The aptly-named Pollan is a delicious writer, and in this book he calls into question our long-standing assumption that human consciousness allows us to be the only species which imposes our will onto other beings. Using four examples - the apple, tulip, marijuana, and potato - he describes how the widespread planting of certain crops over others may have come through the plants' volition as much as through human choice. He points out that plants use animal desires to their own benefit: for example, the bumblebee chooses certain flowers over others precisely because those flowers have evolved to please bumblebees. Therefore, contrary to our initial interpretation, the bee is actually being used by the plant. Similarly, Pollan argues, humans choose certain plants to fulfill our desires for sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control - and plants like the apple, tulip, marijuana, and potato have co-evolved to best exploit these desires. So who is using whom? In an exquisite animistic introduction, Pollan points this out:

"We're prone to overestimate our own agency in nature. ... but in a coevolutionary relationship every subject is also an object, every object a subject. That's why it makes just as much sense to think of agriculture as something the grasses did as a way to conquer the trees." (p. xxi)

Pollan's writing is anything but dry. In the opening chapter, he discusses the forces by which apples spread in terms which read like a detective novel. He first reveals that apple trees never repeat their predecessors' genetic templates; in their case, ontogeny does not replicate phylogeny. In fact, every single seed will grow to become its own unique being, supremely adaptable to, and largely created by, its surroundings. All of the commercial apples we enjoy now, those with names like Jonathan or Golden Delicious, grow on cloned graftings from an original individual tree. Apple trees are therefore one glorious example of nature's continual wild experimentation.

The chapter then goes into the history of Johnny Appleseed, a major force by which apples spread across a new continent. It seems that the main vision we Americans hold of Appleseed, that of a happy-go-lucky barefoot eco-freak merrily planting seeds hither and yon for a wholesome farmer populace to enjoy a fresh apple pie after a hard day's work, is only part of the story. Actually, Pollan reveals, those early apples were not soft or sweet at all, and the only reason the folk of the harsh interior wanted them was for their capacity to be fermented into hard alcoholic cider! The mystically-inclined Appleseed is then likened to an American Dionysus, in wonderfully funny language: "He was a kind of satyr without the sex - a Protestant satyr, you might say..." (p.35).

The Botany of Desire calls into question centuries of assumptions about the dominance of human consciousness and the locus of ecological control. It illustrates important and timely ideas concerning an animistic, volitional-reciprocity worldview through rigorous botanical and historical investigation, all wrapped up in a journalist's engaging writing style. Go read it, and then feed it to your friends. Who knows what might grow?

[...]

I read this after a review and it was spellbinding. The auther writes about the plantworld in near magical terms. The last chapter on potatoes should be required reading for all students. Amazing book and I've already bought two and gave them away as gifts to like minded friends.

Michael Pollan's writing style is unusual, but engaging in a chatty, "round the table" type way. The content is broad and diverse. Pollan is comfortable going lateral, deviating readily to highlight some unusual aspects of the material being explored, and just as readily leading the reader on, to consider other interesting dynamics and perspectives.

I would encourage anyone interested in the Biology / Ecology type areas, and teachers in particular, to consider this book. I believe it definitely encourages one to consider fresh perspectives on (and a greater respect for) the interactions between mankind and our plant world.

(It is a book that I have already added to the "Must Read" list for my Gifted & Talented students at High School.)

It is certainly an unusual approach to a topic and I did learn some interesting facts. However, our book club felt that it was a little long winded in some parts. The most eye opening section was the Potato - I am not sure I will ever eat a french fry, or potato chip again.

This is a most interesting, well researched book. The author takes a look at the industry of food production from the perspective of both the individual producer as well as large agribusinesses. He actually purchases a steer and follows its life from grazing through slaughter. His detailed descriptions made his personal experiences very real to the reader. It is a book that you think about long after you finish reading, and I recommend it highly.

pollan approaches natural history like a journalistic reporter. he digs, reads, talks, and relentlessly pursues his topic until he sees it as clearly as possible for his readers. he gives you the natural history of apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes so that we can better see our relationship with plants from both sides. he avoids the common assumptions and polarized narratives that each side spins out. for example, he spends time with a monsanto rep and sees some good in the apollonion approach before finally coming back to the need to reconsider our approach - monoculture - and it's effects on the future of farming and diversity. he is not lazy. he explores the issues and asks the big questions. he gives you references for follow-up reading. he shares insights about marijuana; why it is taboo, what experience are we after, and why we need it back in our garden. i loved the quote "memory is the enemy of wonder". the "omnivore's dilemma" is more of the same and done even better.

An interesting, although not totally novel, perspective on the success of but four plants: apples, tulips, marijuana, and the potato, all of which hold a prominent place in our history. And all have an interesting story to tell, however, that story could have been told in much fewer words as Mr. Pollan's writing becomes a little tedious. Aside from that major fault I found much to learn here, about the individual plants, and their effect on our history. I admit though to be unconvinced with an allusion of conscious design provided the flora. I've noticed this consideration given by other authors, and wonder if it isn't it's own form of mania.

Obviously, I still have a lot to learn. I found this book completely fascinating and anything I wasn't sure about I looked up and anything I became interested in I investigated. Great stuff! This was recommended reading for college biology.

Excellent book! Do not need a science background to appreciate and understand the author's premise.

"The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World" ($13.95 in paperback from Random House) is by Michael Pollan, an instructor at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley.

Pollan writes that "the seeds of this book were first planted in my garden. ... I happened to be sowing rows in the neighborhood of a flowering apple tree that was fairly vibrating with bees. And what I found myself thinking about was this: What existential difference is there between the human being's role in this (or any) garden and the bumblebee's?"

What follows are four long essays about co-evolution, in which "both parties act on each other to advance their individual interests but wind up trading favors: food for the bee, transportation for the apple genes." Agriculture is about human-plant co-evolution, Pollan says; "it makes just as much sense to think of agriculture as something the grasses did to people as a way to conquer the trees."

Each of the essays is about some kind of human desire. The apple represents sweetness (not very abundant in the Old West); the tulip is beauty (feeding tulipomania in Holland from 1635-1637); marijuana feeds the human desire for intoxication; and the potato is a symbol of the human desire to control the natural world.

The apple chapter focuses on John Chapman, "Johnny Appleseed," who "understood he was working for the apples as much as they were working for him." Pollan writes that until Prohibition, "apples were something people drank. ... Johnny Appleseed was bringing the gift of alcohol to the frontier." And that brings up a key theme in the book, the interplay between "Apollo" (reason) and "Dionysius" (ecstasy), between the garden and the wilderness.

The author samples high grade cannabis in Amsterdam and muses on the nature of the "high," something, he says, that melts away short term memory and explains "the sense that time has slowed or even stopped. For it is only by forgetting that we ... approach the experience of living in the present moment."

The potato is about biotechnology. Pollan writes of a Monsanto patent on the NewLeaf potato (since, apparently, withdrawn from market) which is bioengineered to contain a natural pesticide. That would cut down on the need for chemical sprays to protect potatoes, but it would also mean, unless great care were taken, that bugs would more quickly adapt to the NewLeaf variety (since spraying is only periodic but the potatoes them-selves are around for the entire season).

This is the dance of co-evolution. "The survival of the sweetest, the most beautiful, or the most intoxicating proceeds according to a dialectical process, a give-and-take between human desire and the universe of all plant possibility. It takes two, but it doesn't take intention, or consciousness." When it comes to plant and human, we are "in this boat together."

A long book on botany if you are up to it. For a more compact and lively study try The Story of the Apple.

Michael Pollan's charaming and erudite book is the story of the development of the culture of four different plants: the apple, potato, tulip and marijuana. `Culture' is to be understood in two different ways. First there's the effect of the plants in question on human cultures and second the demands the plants place on people for their culture or care.

Don't be distracted by Pollan's provocative hypothesis. We and our favorite plants have `co-evolved'. That is, they have used us as much as we have used them. The apple has snared us with its sweetness and so has manipulated us into spreading it throughout the world. The same could be said for the beauty of the tulip, the reliability and simplicity of the potato and the magic power of marijuana. Sure. Let's remember that we're the ones with the consciousness here and file that co-evolution business away in the metaphor drawer and get on with Pollan's main business.

The business in question is an examination of where our stewardship of plants' destinies is leading us. The genetically-altered potato is his best case. The frightening possibility is that a potato that uses a `natural' gene to fight off pests runs the risk of fostering resistant strains of the pest. Once that happens, an entire natural defense against pests disappears. Unfortunately, the losers in the process are not just the farmers who used the genetically-altered crop but everyone whose crop is endangered by the new resistant pest.

So this should make it a snap decision: genetically-modified, bug-resistant potatoes are bad. But then Pollan tells us about the dreadful diet of chemicals that are used now to fight pests. The recital of the potatoes' dosages would be enough to turn anyone off to french fries forever.

Notice that this is no longer a matter of co-evolution. This is a question of human direction of evolution (the potato seems to have no opinion on the matter). The outcomes are not trivial-genetic alterations remain in the environment and reproduce themselves in a way that chemical spills, for instance, do not.

In fact, it's possible that the matter may already be out of our hands. The chemically nurtured potato exists because big food-processing companies demand it. They demand those potatoes because McDonald's (for one) demands it. And the big junk-food chains demand it because we do.

So in the end, there are three partners in the evolutionary rowboat. There are the plants, there's us and there's this new `organism' called the industrial food business. Pollan's thoughtful book leaves me wondering if all three of us make it .


Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine and bang-BANG, the forthcoming novel of sex and gunplay from kunati press.

I was given three months to read this book, and each time I picked it up I threw it down in disgust. Between the none-stop Johnny Appleseed referances to the Collegian's Guide to Growing Pot, it is amazing I got through it. I am convinced he was once a Columbian drug lord.

I can't stop telling people about this book. Entertaining. Educational. I bought the book a year ago and it sat in a stack I planned to get to...big mistake...looking forward to starting his current book and I hope he's writing his next one.

I bought this book for a workshop I planned to take. It's unusual; I can't decide where it belongs in the scheme of things. Since I have a practical bent, I enjoyed about half of it. The other half was mostly "bull," kind of a history of plants, such as marijuana, the Irish potato, and the tulip.