June 2005: The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (Pollan)

Post date: Jan 07, 2010 6:28:44 PM

Lounging in the living room at Jennie's house the warm evening of June 29, the gathered readers weren't all thrilled with Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World. Several readers wanted more depth on each of the plants (apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes), but most all had learned a few new things. However, we were all skeptical about the premise of plants manipulating humans to cultivate their species or variety. We did wish for a gardener's perspective on some of the ideas.

Although the apple section pointed out that Johnny Appleseed was popular because those early apple trees brought hard cider to the frontier, the marijuana section discussed the effect of THC on perception and memory, and the potato section raised the issue of genetic modification, none of this news sparked in-depth debate. We nibbled organic grapes and tomatoes, chatted about various topics tangentially related to the book, and headed off into summer.