A review by sgorr
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
4.0
This is the book that emerged before the Michael Pollan fad hit and before reading Pollan's books became almost synonymous with never ever wanting to need to eat again. Ever.
While I found it occasionally a bit slow and a bit dry, Pollan had me enraptured with the history of the apple and of the genetically engineered potato. The difference between the two chapters is that the first section on the apple left me filled full of knowledge, things I never knew and was now desperate to share. The http://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/13839#final chapter discussing the potato showed hints of the new more food-oriented Pollan as my newfound knowledge left me wishing I could just absorb energy from the sun and didn't need to eat. I felt guilty, but in a good, environmentally conscious kind of way.
That's actually why I rate the book so highly: it changed the way I think. I feel I simply can't go back to looking at things the way I used to and really, isn't that the point of books? To change you in some way?
I'm looking forward to reading more of Pollan and I applaud his efforts in this first early book.
While I found it occasionally a bit slow and a bit dry, Pollan had me enraptured with the history of the apple and of the genetically engineered potato. The difference between the two chapters is that the first section on the apple left me filled full of knowledge, things I never knew and was now desperate to share. The http://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/13839#final chapter discussing the potato showed hints of the new more food-oriented Pollan as my newfound knowledge left me wishing I could just absorb energy from the sun and didn't need to eat. I felt guilty, but in a good, environmentally conscious kind of way.
That's actually why I rate the book so highly: it changed the way I think. I feel I simply can't go back to looking at things the way I used to and really, isn't that the point of books? To change you in some way?
I'm looking forward to reading more of Pollan and I applaud his efforts in this first early book.