Friday, May 29, 2009

Book review: Second Nature

I wish I had found Second Nature: A Gardener's Education by Michael Pollan before Earth Day. One of the thing that bothers me about Earth Day is the underlying feeling of "Nature, good; people, bad," and this book does an excellent job both of unearthing that philosophy (so to speak) and countering it.

I appreciate his trying to come to terms with woodchucks, weeds, and the morality of compost. I was intrigued by his explanation and exploration of the place of lawn in American democracy. Sometimes he gets carried away, and eventually I did feel, "I get the point," but the point is well made, well told, and worth hearing.

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