Rating: 
Summary: All things considered
Review: A great one. Michael Pollan inquires with the intention of finding clarity and sharing it with us. Once alighting on the answers, he succeeds at putting it all together in a book and making it friendly to all. Never claiming to find divine truth or undeniable fact, only shedding light and provoking thought. Leaving plenty of room for the reader to agree or disagree. Although his meaning is anything but ambiguous. He writes with clarity that comes from turning all the stones and delving into the myths, the hysteria, the impact and the undeniable co-existence of humans (our desires), and the world in which we all live. We are very fortunate to have a mind like Pollan's, working with us, shedding light on the apple, the tulip, the potato and marajuana, for those who dont have the time.
Rating: 
Summary: Like candy, sweet without substance.
Review: Botany of Desire is to good evolutionary biology and natural history writing what Curious George is to Gorillas in the Mist.The stars Michael Pollan gets are for his lyrical writing, for making me think a little more deeply about a few plants for a couple of hours. He gets no stars for the natural history or for substance. This was an essentially substanceless book. A few funny anecdotes strung together without interior logic or any constancy of theme. What's his main thesis? He wants us to consider that plants evolved in order to attract our participation in their propogation. Well, that's pretty ho-hum since it's standard evolutionary theory. Of course, we as humans have a greater effect than the bees do, but the selfish plant gene is operating under the same restraints whether its seeking a human or an apian propogator. So, he has no truly novel concept to deliver. Nor is it novel to suggest that plants shaped human evolution. This reciprocity of effect is old news. Good natural history doesn't have to deliver something new. Many successful natural history books take solid, long-known ideas and put them across to the public in an effective, way. However, Pollan doesn't do that either. In fact, he merely collects a few observations, speculations and his own personal circumperambulations of, about and around a plant and tosses them into the hopper. His chapter on marijuana was so incoherant I began to think it was deliberate - an exemplar of marijuana's effect. This bricolage of a book is pretty to listen to, but lacking much of value to say. A bon bon, a froth and frosting, lacking any substance. In other words, Pollan doesn't have much to say, but he does say it rather well.
Rating:
Summary: A quartette of posies
Review: Let's get the one fault out of the way quickly. This book isn't "a plant's-eye view of the world." It could be better subtitled "A Botanical Biography." No matter. This well-researched and wonderfully written group of essays examines the world of four mundane plants, the apple, tulip, hemp and potatoe. Pollan describes how each have played major roles in human affairs. In America, "Johnny Appleseed" is a giant figure in the mythology of the Ohio Valley. Pollan describes the life of his real-life counterpart, John Chapman. Apart from repeats of the Disney film of this character, it would be interesting to know how many remember the migratory apple orchardist of the early 19th Century today. In reviving Chapman's memory [I'd never heard of him - there is no Canadian counterpart.], Pollan takes us on a well-developed history of this valuable fruit. An emigrant from ancient Kazakhstan, it may have been brought to the West along the famous silk road, according to Pollan. Along with the silk came the process of grafting, invented by the Chinese. Pollan's reminds us that an apple's taste, which we usually consider a human reaction, was attractive to many animals, leading to its wide propagation.
Pollan moves from fruit to flower. The tulip, that quintessential symbol of the Netherlands, was the first flower to influence major economic activity. He describes the frantic "tulipomania" that swept that country in the 17th Century. Beautiful flowers are desired by most people, but to insects, Pollan notes, it means pollen and nectar. Flowers need insects to ensure pollination - no insects, no more flowers. Pollan suggests our own view of "beauty" derives from these evolutionary roots. Pollan's choice of hemp, in its use as marijuana, will have raised a few eyebrows. As a symbol of "intoxication," he opens the essay with a description of plant toxins. Toxins, Pollan reminds us, are capable of rendering the victim dead, or at least incapacitated. Since plants and animals have a history of coevolution, deadly toxins are often counterproductive. Besides, making them ties up much of the plant's resources. Evolution led many plants to produce toxins that merely confuse or disable the predator. Enter the human. Plant chemistry is the basis of nearly all pharmaceuticals. Pollan notes the properties of nicotine and caffeine on animals. Marijuana's effects, as he notes, have a potential that goes beyond body chemistry. His account of "mary jane" plants behind his barn is easily the most
entertaining episode in the book. Returning to edible [for humans] plants, Pollan re-introduces us to the potato - often overlooked, but of immense value. He views the potato as the ideal symbol for the rise of agriculture. "Agriculture is, by its very nature, brutally reductive, simplifying nature's incredibly complexity so something humanly manageable." This simplification has made the crop potato susceptible to blights, as the Irish learned to their dismay. Pollan, a consummate gardener, examines the possibilities of the Monsanto genetically-engineered NewLeaf potato. It has its own insecticide locked in its DNA. The experiment leads him to visit potato farmers for some enlightening exchanges of ideas and opinion.
This book seizes your attention from the first pager. Pollan's polished style and easy wit holds your interest throughout. Whether you've ever gardened for fruits, vegetables or flowers, you will be captivated by these offerings. It's a difficult book to put down, and taking it up again may offer missed rewards later.
Rating: 
Summary: How passionate are you about plants?
Review: Pollan's book was pleasurable and engaging to read. It is a book that got me to think and expanded my perspective. It places our relationship with plants in specific contexts, with a unique hybrid of sociological and genetic prose. Recommended highly for those passionate about gardening, nature, or food.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: The author has a very entertaining yet elegant style that is also highly informative, even engrossing. I found this book to be exceptionally well written and enjoyable to read.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book!
Review: The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan, is a look at the world from a Plant's Eye view. Pollan discusses how plants and mankind have experienced an evolutionary dance, with each one effecting the other. People often feel as though they are in control of plants, when in reality, plants are changing in order to use humans for their own genetic advancement. Pollan explores this relationship by examining four plants: The Apple, The Tulip, Marijuana, and The Potato.
Pollan's writing is top notch throughout. Written for the casual reader, there is very little technical jargon. The author takes his time by discussing the history of each plant, its important role in the lives of humans, and then generalizes from this to paint a picture of the world. Each chapter is infused with references to great American literature and writers, poetry, the classics, and Greek mythology. Pollan attempts to characterize society, the nature of man, capitalism, the past, and the future with this book about plants.
Perhaps my favorite story in the book is about Apples. Pollan tells of how Johnny Appleseed, a.k.a. John Chapman, planted apple trees all over the frontier, but not solely for his appreciation of nature. Appleseed would venture deep into the frontier and plant trees in order to sell them to the settlers years down the road. Due to government laws, a settler had to have a fruit tree planted in order to homestead a piece of land. Appleseed showed remarkable entrepreneurial insights in providing for this need. He also made a substantial fortune in the process. Furthermore, apples were not usually eaten, but drank. Apple Cider was a favorite drink for nutrition and inebriation. Contrary to what many environmentalists say, Johnny Appleseed demonstrated that capitalism is often the best friend of nature.
Pollan certainly has no particular political axe to grind, but much of his discussion offers an overly cautious view about man's attempts to control plants. Pollan finds that fewer strains of apples and potatoes are being grown by farmers. This signals to Pollan that society is losing out on much needed botanical diversity. Commenting on potatoes, he feels "Monoculture is where the logic of nature collides with the logic of economics; which logic will ultimately prevail can never be in doubt." Immediately after this Pollan recognizes that this shift to a particular potato is the result of its great taste, look, and feel. Admitting that people enjoy these potatoes the best. Pollan overlooks many parts of his own book while making these cautious comments. Earlier he notes that increases in technology and the need for farmers to serve the consumer have allowed advances in the quality and quantity of different types of Apples and Marijuana. Furthermore, it was the Tulip Craze in Holland that yielded some of the most beautiful of flowers. Similar conjecture can be found in different chapters. While not improving the quality of the book, it certainly doesn't take away from it much either.
I recommend this book very highly. It is clearly from outside my own field (no pun intended), but it was interesting and educational throughout. Pollan's analysis of Tulipomania in Holland, the Drug War in the United States, the business skills of Johnny Appleseed, and the success of farmers to serve Platonically Ideal french fries around the world provide the reader a fun trip through the world of botany and evolution.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting idea, weak execution
Review: The central idea that guides The Botany of Desire is that plants have evolved to please people as part of their survival strategy. In order to explore this thesis, Pollan looks at some anecdotes from the histories of Apples, Tulips, Marijuana, and Potatoes. It is a clever idea, and Pollan has enough knowledge and style to make it an interesting read.
Unfornately, it never goes beyond an interesting read. If you think about the experience of reading a fairly long and well-written magazine article then you are probably going to get the idea about what this book is like for the reader. Pollan lacks the expertise as a writer to draw together the different threads of the chapters to lead to any real point about his central thesis. While several of the sections are nice to read in their own right (I particularly liked the chapter about apples) they do not really hang together well and often have the feel of a superficial collection of anecdotes. The writing style may also irritate some; he has clearly been heavily influenced by the Wendell Berry/NPR school of writing and while not in itself a bad thing, he lacks the substance to pull it off well and occasionally ends up sounding mannered in a fake folksy kind of way.
The sad thing about the failures of the book is that Pollan clearly knows his material. In the section on the potato, he makes a clear and balanced assessment of the issues that lay behind genetically engineered crop production. He goes far beyond the normal superficial treatment of the subject and speaks with an authority which is lacking for most of the rest of the book. It would have been nice if that confidence had extended to the rest of the work.
In summary, Botany of Desire is a mildly interesting time waster which should tell you some things that you did not know about plants. Do not read it expecting something larger than that. Pollan himself may well be a talented writer, and I would not be averse to reading something else that he had written.
Rating:
Summary: botany of desire
Review: the thesis for this book sets up a very enlightening premise - that plants are controlling us to meet their needs in the same manner we use them to satisfy ours. the author illustrates this best with the analogy of the bee pollenating the flower. both the bee and the flower think they are controlling the other, when from a distance it is clear that they are locked in a mutually-beneficial relationship in which one depends on the other for survival. the author pledges to tell an amazing story from a novel perspective - that of the plant.
the four references he gives to back up his thesis are interesting in title, but never go nearly as deep as i hoped they would. they each end up as extended anecdotes about their subjects. almost like a collection of unrelated essays that the author has tried to tie together for the purpose of releasing a book (the intro to this book led me to believe this is true).
in the end, it is a pleasurable read in which you'll learn several interesting bits of trivia about apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes, but nothing revolutionary or mind-expanding as the jacket suggests.
Rating:
Summary: Style over Substance
Review: The writing style and amount of information in this book bring it down. That is unfortunate because the topics are and should be very interesting and easy to write about. As other reviewers have said, the author talks about 4 plant species: the apple, marijuana, the tulip, and the potato. The information on the does not run that deep - at times it seems like he did some Google searches and cobbled together the facts into a story written at a middle or high school level. To make matters worse, interspersed within the information on these topics Pollan has inserted many annoying personal thoughts. I eventually found myself identifying and skipping these paragraphs. It is as if he didn't think the plants themselves are interesting enough on their own.
Rating: 
Summary: Reworked 'Selfish-gene' theory
Review: This book came to me highly recommended, and the title has some sizzle. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sort of meditation on botany that I enjoy. Despite my reaction, it is obviously satisfying many readers. I find this more interesting than the text.
My problems begin on paragraph 3:
"A bumblebee would probably consider himself as a subject in the garden and the bloom he's plundering for its drop of nectar as an object. But we know that this is just a failure of his imagination. The truth of the matter is that the flower has cleverly manipulated the bee into hauling its pollen from blossom to blossom."
This is a twist on Dawkins' famous 'selfish gene' argument. Dawkins argues that you and I represent vehicles our genes have created to insure their 'survival'. Our genes have provided us with plenty of mindless passions which insure the gene's survival, not ours. We, the vehicles, emerge, reproduce and die. The genetic matter is passed on from generation to generation. The gene is immortal.
When Pollan elevates the flower to 'conscious subject', capable of tricking the bumblebee into heavy labor, he does for the flower what Dawkins did for the gene. The site of conscious control transfers from the active to the passive, from the traditional to the surprising, from you and I to 'it'. This metaphorical trick uses a familiar metaphorical allusion which suggests 'consciousness' has physical location, and within that location resides a 'little man' (much like you or I), who watches something of a TV show presented by the senses, before deciding what actions to take.
For idol worshipers, like the ancient Greeks, the 'little man' Dionysus might reside in the statue. For Descartes, the 'little man' was in the pineal gland. For Mary Shelly, he was in the brain Dr. Frankenstein stitched into the monster's head. For Dawkins he is in the gene. For Pollan, he is in the flower. The common thread here is the shift of responsibility from 'me' to the 'little man'. It is comforting, as long as we don't look too closely at the notion. When we look closely, the little man argument becomes silly. A 'little man' must have his own 'little man', which in turn must have his own 'little man', ad infinitum. Nothing about the nature of responsibility is addressed.
Pollan follows this format. We are told about the powerful genetic (little man) creativity of the original apple grove in Kazakhstan. We are informed of Johnny Appleseed's link to the Dionysian god-head. We learn about profiteer efforts to contain the life force (little men) of tulips of fixed shape, size and color. The `little men' in marijuana plants allow their growers to out-fox the government agents. So, Pollan is really doing nothing but offering comforting nostrums and hoping no one looks very closely.
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