Rating: 
Summary: Entertainment - not very informative
Review: I found Pollan's work interesting. This book brings the idea home that certain plants evolved to fulfill certain human cravings and in doing so ensured the continuation of there own species. A somewhat different, although not new, perspective on how people are still not entirely removed from the natural environment and that these natural forces are still acting upon us.
His writing was very entertaining. The chapters on potatoes and tulips were quite interesting. The chapter on apples kept my attention but he spent too much energy on the history of Johnny Appleseed and less time on the natural history of the apple itself. The chapter on cannabis was a waste and could possibly have been designed to generate a greater audience instead of giving any useful information on the biological design of the plant itself. Overall, anecdote and speculation back his ideas on these plants. It is hardly a book for those seriously interested in natural history. Again, it was entertaining but not much more than that.
Rating: 
Summary: Author Ages Gracefully
Review: Loved especially the intro and the section on pot. He could have devoted an entire tome to his perspective on that subject. The bit about the huge Maui Wowwie plant & the local cop was simply hilarious.
Rating: 
Summary: for all humans!
Review: this is an amazing book.i want michael pollan to write about all plants. i will never eat a potato without thinking of the chapter about control. or eat an apple without understanding it's spirit. i hope he writes about more growing things. also, i think the fact that his last name is pollan and he writes about plants is pretty awesome.
Rating: 
Summary: It fell short of my expectations.
Review: Pollan's prose was simply dull and his points were predictable. On the whole I found that the book lacked originality. Would I buy the book again? To be perfectly honest, no, it came up short of my expectations.
Rating:
Summary: Quite disappointing.
Review: When I saw this book so well-reviewed , I decided to check it out. As someone who's read a lot of reflective garden books, I found Pollan's prose weak and lacking in much real service. He wrote nothing new, nothing that surprised me. I wouldn't buy this book again or recommend it to others.
Rating:
Summary: WOW, what a great BOOK
Review: Anyone who loves gardening, is interested genetics, is awed by nature will love this book. The writing style is delightful. Tulips, potatoes, apples and THC are discussed freely. There is new info about....duh I forget Anyway read this book, it is so fun!
Rating:
Summary: Non-fiction that is as exciting as anything!
Review: I don't usually read non-fiction for fun, usually only if it's something "work related"... but I heard about this book on the radio and had to try it. The different sections, from a discussion of the tulip to genetically enhanced potatoes, had me thinking about the food I eat and the flowers I love in new ways-- especially about French Fries & organic farming! Pollan (whose name is metaphorically apt for a botanist!) explains botany with just enough science for those of us who are "right-brainers" to understand the concepts, not so much you need a degree in physics, but I think that it's dense enough for science folks to like it too. The prose is engaging and the subject matter thought-provoking and stunning. I bought this for my mother-in-law, a science nut, and kept it for myself, a literature nut. I can't think of a better way to recommend it than saying it's a gift you'll want to keep.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: An "ethnography", if you will, of these four plants. A must read for gardeners, eaters, anthropologists, and historians.
Rating:
Summary: Apple, Tulip, Cannabis, and Potato, by fermed
Review: Michael Pollan is a very fine writer and also a gardener. As a writer he is infinitely curious about all things, and in this book he asks us to follow him through an explication of evolution as seen from the point of view (more or less) of the four plants whose products are mentioned in the title of this review. It is a very exciting trip he takes us on, for as lay people, if we think about evolution at all, it is primarily about the descent of this animal from that other one, or about chracteristics that make this creature, and not that one, survive genetically. Seldom do we think about the co-evolution of plants with man, and that is what this book is all about. Some plants have latched onto man and given him sweetness, or beauty, or food, or pleasing brain alterations. In exchange man has protected, and nurtured, and chosen those plants who please him; and in the process the genetic material of the plants has been given additional chances to survive in this world. Humans have cut trees to help weeds become stronger and livelier; and weeds have given wheat and oats; humans have irrigated vast fields for other weeds, and they have produced rice with more and bigger grains. This delightful book has apparently irritated many people. Scientists find it incomplete, or superficial, or a document wrongly popularizing scientific facts; those who oppose the very notion of evolution find the book presumptuous and wrong. Others just plain don't like its tone, or its friendliness towards cannabis; but those of us who are neither scientists, nor bigots, nor carriers of axes in need of grinding, find the book quite stupendous in the amazing things it brings to light. I don't think I will ever treat an apple without admiration, or pass by a tulip and ignore it, or demean a potato; not being a fancier of cannabis, I'm not sure what I'll do if I come across one of those plants during a quiet walk in the country. At leat, I'll doff my cap. This is a great book to give to gardening friends, or to anyone who toils the land. Or even to those who are simply still in awe about anything having to do with nature.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars not enough!
Review: This book is on my book shelf between Robert Wright's "The Moral Animal" and Edward O. Wilson's "Consilience." But also not far from Sara B. Stein's wonderful "My Weeds: A Gardener's Botany"! If any of those three books has been of interest to you - you will then certainly enjoy Pollan's insights into the details of plant life from a plant's perspective. Not only does he Know his subject matter (with a capital "K" )- he can write (with capital "W") as well. I will never see the "natural world" quite the same way again. He changed my world-view!
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