Amazing Listen - Thoroughly Satisfying

I realized my teenage children and I have listened to various parts of this book a dozen times already. Time to write a Review! Recommended to us by their high school teacher, this book discusses the history, science, and more regarding the apple, the lily, weed, and the potato. Don't miss this book - it is well read and not only very informative but a great story as well.

12 people found this helpful

Surprisingly Excellent

I got this book as I like the narrator and it had so many great reviews. This book makes you think of the relationship between humans and nature - and in particular plants - in a whole different way. Johnny Appleseed is explained with many fascinating facts about apples and apple trees.
Apples, Tulips, Marijuana and Potatoes are talked about and explained. I found the discussion on potatoes would be the most provocative. The book allows you to better understand the blight,why genetic engineering of foods is gaining a foothold, and the challenges of organic farming.
Well worth the listen!

10 people found this helpful

If you have an open mind... Give it a listen

This is one of those books that just gives you a lot to think about. I would actually suggest this book to anyone. Fitting narration, excellent content, something that anyone can appreciate.

The narrator was pretty good, I wasn't falling asleep, I never thought that it was drawling on nor was I thinking it was being rushed. There were moments you can laugh at and it was also very easy to follow in the easy, cool tone the narrator had. The entire book was brought across very well.

I have some friends who studied botany in in college who I picture would find the entire book fascinating. I majored in Chemistry and I found myself channelling my inner scientist by the Potato chapter wondering how I could genetically modify a Pumpkin plant, that's how thought provoking I found this book. Also, I can see someone with no affiliation with science also appreciating this book as long as they have an open mind. The book was not complicated in any way by having overly complex concept and was broken down in a form I think anyone could appreciate.

38 people found this helpful

Great book

This book is great. Sure it's not a textbook so don't expect to use it to pass your biology exams. It's a pop science book that will be interesting to a wide range of people, in particular anyone interested in gardening and plants.

It's basically four stories, each one about a different plant and the authors experience with them and musing on them and their history. The four plants are apples, tulips, marijuana and potatoes.

The book is well written and in some places quite funny. It kept me entertained, I picked up a few factoids on the history of these plants, and it made me think about how plants and humans depend on each other.

The narrators reading was a bit overdramatic in the introductory parts, either he settled down or I got used to it, because I enjoyed the narration through most of the stories. This narrator also did "The Traveler" (fiction), which I also enjoyed about 6 months ago.

Overall, this is one of the best books I've downloaded in the last few months.

29 people found this helpful

Good Book - Awful Narration

I greatly enjoyed the content of this book, but stopped listening to it and read a paper copy due to downright unbearable narration. I would only recommend listening to this book if you have previously listened to Scott Brick and actually like (or can suffer through) his narration style, which is characterized by inexplicably dramatic passages, comically mispronounced words and a cadence that could make you seasick. That said, some people love his style. I'm not one of them and therefore cannot recommend this book or any other book read by Mr. Brick.

24 people found this helpful

Don't let the neg. reviews scare you- good book

I'm not sure where those negative reviews came from. The book was well written, informative and entertaining. It's really a history of 4 things from our daily lives: apples, tulips, potatoes, and Mary Jane.

But it's more than just a history of these four; like his other book(s), Botany of Desire makes you question things- in this case the theory that the food chain might actually 'desire' to be what they have evolved into. Although he argues this point seriously enough, and it did make me think about it, I find it difficult to equate evolution to 'desire.'

Anyhoo, I bought this book because I really like Omnivore's Dilemma. It wasn't quite as good in my opinion, but still very good. And the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I read OD before and had another of his works to compare this one to.

In short, if you like apples, tulips, potatoes or wacky tobaccy, you'll like this book.

16 people found this helpful

Wonderful book for a long drive

We listened to this book on a long cross-country drive and were fascinated till the last word. Each chapter took us on a journey. I read complaints about the narrator but we found his voice energetic and clear, definitely a plus when zooming along interstate highways.

3 people found this helpful

Exciting and interesting! I loved every minute!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I absolutely recommend this book! yes yes!

What other book might you compare The Botany of Desire to and why?

similar in its interesting and complex information about plants to a book I read years ago called 'The sex life of plants' which was also very cool, fun, and informative.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He has a beautiful voice and reads so eloquently. I remember that there were a couple of botany related words that were not pronounced the way I would pronounce them, but it could be that I am just a huge plant geek or it could be how these words are pronounced in America? I am sorry that I can't remember what they were.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh loud and often, and cry out in amazement sometimes at the wonderful story and the amazing information.

Any additional comments?

I have been deeply affected by this book - it was amazingly informative and beautiful and skilfully written and well researched, and I am already a huge botany geek and I learned a very great deal from Michael. Thank you SO much for writing this book!

I also learned a lot about people's experiences of marijuana, which due to my law-abiding life to keep my very proper job, I can't and won't try, so that was interesting.

And the apples growing by the roadside are even more exciting to me now and one day I hope to go see the apple forests in Almaty.

3 people found this helpful

How Plants Make Themselves Attractive to Humans

After reading the Omnivores Dilemma and In Defense of Food, I looked forward to reading this one. I knew it had been written earlier and was about the natural history of plants, but I enjoyed his other writings and found them insightful so I didn’t much care what it was, I’m a Michael Pollan fan. So, this turned out to be a quirky look at the history of how the Apple developed in North America, how the potato evolved and impacted Ireland and is being genetically modified today, how pot has gotten stronger as a result of the war on drugs and how the tulip evolved. Fun, funny and engaging not unlike Simon Winchester. Though, while Winchester is the proper old Englishman stumbling across interesting topics, Pollan is a stoner speculating about how plants evolve to make themselves attractive to humans for cultivation.

3 people found this helpful

Engaging and informative

Michael Pollan has done extensive research and delivered it in an absorbing manner, of course with Scott Brick's help. He weaves history, philosophy and morality into the story of four plants. Fodder for many dinner conversations. You won't be disappointed!

7 people found this helpful