| | |  | General | Home » » » » » » Second Nature: A Gardener's Education | | | | | | | Description: | | In his articles and in best-selling books such as The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan has established himself as one of our most important and beloved writers on modern man's place in the natural world. A new literary classic, Second Nature has become a manifesto not just for gardeners but for environmentalists everywhere. Chosen by the American Horticultural Society as one of the seventy-five greatest books ever written about gardening, Second Nature captures the rhythms of our everyday engagement with the outdoors in all its glory and exasperation. With chapters ranging from a reconsideration of the Great American Lawn, a dispatch from one man's war with a woodchuck, to an essay about the sexual politics of roses, Pollan has created a passionate and eloquent argument for reconceiving our relationship with nature. | | | Features: | |
• ISBN13: 9780802140111
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Michael Pollan | | Paperback:
| 320 pages | | Publisher:
| Grove Press | | Publication Date:
| August 12, 2003 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0802140114 | | Package Length:
| 8.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.8 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.55 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 36 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Anti-Wilderness, Cleverly DisguisedJul 21, 2010
Pollan is a very bright and clever writer and all his books are entertaining and well-researched. But his point of view is all humanist and as such is part of the same old agenda as even the worse earth-raping capitalists. Indeed, his later books and essays advocate killing animals, "getting over" the "idea" of wilderness, and not bothering to preserve nature but rather to just give up and let humans overrun everything. He is a good marketer, has a huge ego, and he tells humans (especially us Hummer-loving Americans) what we want to hear, but people like him are part of the erudite, seemingly sensitive propagandists (such as Bill McKibben) who do not love earth as much as they love humans, thus missing the fact that humans are embarked on a massive earth-killing mission that combines capitalism, ecocide and ultimately suicide.
 Absolutely wonderfulJul 09, 2010
I am a gardener. I have to start with this statement, because I relate so very well to Pollan in this regard that I am not able to step outside myself and make a guess if it's a book for every homeowner or more for those who are interested in gardening. If you have even a passing interest in horticulture, landscaping, or possibly american history/philosophy I would highly recommend this book. It felt so good to read about someone else's journey through idealism to pragmatism in their own yard, as so much of it reflects my own experiences. There are oodles of quotes and thoughts from other garden writers, many of which I plan to follow up on and read as well. I learned a lot from Second Nature and enjoyed every minute of it.
 Entertaining enough but shy of his later effortsMay 27, 2010
I have followed Pollan's more recent works and have loved them. I prefer audiobooks and have found his reader, Scott Brick, to be brilliant in those more recent efforts. However, he has chosen to read this book himself and he starts out well enough but eventually he becomes more monotoned and seemingly disinterested in the subject matter (which he had apparently written more than a decade before his audio recording). He has some wonderful insights and observations but he tends to be way too shallow on the kinds of details he would likely have provided had he written the book recently. Technical recording quality is excellent.
Second Nature - (A gardener's delight)Apr 03, 2010
I am still reading this book; it's one to be savored instead of gobbled up in one sitting. I love the author's discovery of gardening and his awareness of the political side of growing plants--something I'd never noticed. He's spot on about the conflict between lawns and shrubbery, evidenced in my own household. I want to get rid of our lawn; my husband will not hear of it.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Certainly not a how-to bookMar 12, 2010
I find Second Nature to be primarily a treatise on urban
landscaping for homeowners--what to do with the land on which
your house sits. A very philosophical approach to gardening.
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