The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World is one of the excellent books of Michael Pollan, a journalist, activist, professor at Berkeley and an award-winning author. At first, I felt so sad because I discovered it so late, but then I was happy to read it. If you are a bit of a curious person, this book will feed your curiosity, and you’ll end up wanting more.
Michael Pollan describes the fascinating relationship between people and plants through four different plants in four chapters. I have gained new information that interests me on almost every page. I even read so many quotes to my husband while reading the book that I finally found myself reading the whole book to him. And now he wants to learn more as well.
The Botany of Desire is one of those books that you’ll want to share with everyone. It will keep your curiosity alive from beginning to the very end, and you will be sorry when it is over. I will not go over it much as there is enough explanation below but believe me; there is much more in this book. Let me tell you in advance that this is a book that can change your life as it will make you more mindful. Enjoy!
The Botany of Desire
A farmer cultivates genetically modified potatoes so that a customer at McDonald’s half a world away can enjoy a long, golden french fry. A gardener plants tulip bulbs in the autumn and so in the spring has a riotous patch of colour to admire. Two simple examples of how humans act on nature to get what we want. Or are they? What if those potatoes and tulips have evolved to gratify certain human desires so that humans will help them multiply? What if, in other words, these plants are using us just as we use them?
In blending history, memoir and superb science writing, Pollan tells the story of four domesticated species – the apple, the tulip, marijuana and so the potato. All four plants are integral to our everyday lives and Pollan demonstrates how each has thrived by so satisfying one of humankind’s most basic desires. Weaving fascinating anecdote and accessible science, Pollan takes the reader on an absorbing journey through the landscape of botany and desire. It is a journey that will change the way we think about our place in nature
Michael Pollan
Michael Kevin Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and the Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer and Professor of Practice of Non-Fiction at Harvard University. Pollan is also a professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
