About this title: In the mid-1980s, Michael Pollan began gardening on the grounds of the old dairy farm he bought in Connecticut, a process that led to a series of musings on the troubled boundary between nature and contemporary life.
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Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: New. Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas. GREAT BUY. Brand New From US Distributor. WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER with OVER 3, 500, 000 BOOKS SOLD. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780871134431ISBN:0871134438
Description: Fair. No dust jacket. An acceptable used copy. Pages are somewhat worn. Cover worn with some creases. Worn edges and corners. Binding somewhat weak and cracked. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grove Press
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780802140111ISBN:0802140114
Description: Good. --All NEW items are exactly as provided by the publisher. All USED items are in Good condition or better, and copies may contain store stickers, highlighting, etc from normal use by previous owner(s). One-time use supplements (e.g., access codes, tear-out flash cards, reference cards, etc) provided with new copies are NOT guaranteed. --Professional booksellers: inquiries always welcome. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pgw
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780802140111ISBN:0802140114
Description: "As delicious a meditation on one man's relationships with the Earth as any you are likely to come upon" ("The New York Times Book Review"), "Second Nature" captures the rhythms of everyday engagement with the outdoors in all its glory and exasperation. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: The Atlantic Monthly Press
Date Published: 1991
Description: Good. Cover slightly torn. Pages flat and unmarked. Has inscription on the flyleaf. Your purchase benefits world-wide relief efforts of Mennonite Central Committee. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr
Date Published: 1991-04
ISBN-13:9780871134431ISBN:0871134438
Description: Fair. Ex-library with all the usual stamps and stickers; text is free from markings of any kind; cover and dust jacket have some light wear. read more
Edition: Stated 1st Ed.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr., New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780871134431ISBN:0871134438
Description: VG in Good jacket. 8vo. 258 pp. Owner's name in ink on ffep. Page edges are soiled. Dj has several small tears and shows shelfwear and soiling. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780871134431ISBN:0871134438
Description: Very Good in Good + jacket. Very Good/Good Plus condition, copy is from the library of late actor Vincent Price and there's a gift inscription "To Vincent Price" written opposite half-title page and a thank you card to Price laid in, tight clean unmarked copy, price-clipped dust jacket has a little closed tear on front cover at bottom edge, stated second printing. read more
"One of Pollan's earlier titles, I started reading this because for the first time I was to create and tend to my own little 10x10 garden this year. I figured having another perspective on this would be nice.
The book follows Pollan's own thoughts and musings on gardening in America. The main theme is that too often there are extremes in the environmental debate. Either we steadfastly preserve "wilderness" or we bulldoze the forest and put up condos. Pollan puts forth the idea that there needs to be more exploration of the middle ground. A place where nature and culture do not collide, but work together: a garden. Viewed through this lens, Pollan takes on many different issues that are though provoking, from revisiting Thoreau and Emerson to American style lawns, and looking at the different philosophies of seed catalogs.
A fun and interesting read for anyone remotely interested in gardening, wilderness, and our societies perception of environmentalism."
"I love Michael Pollan's writing, but one of the things I love about it was the very thing that made this book so hard to finish. Pollan's writing style is dense and thoughtful. This can be a good thing when one is in the mood to read a dense and thoughtful text, but sometimes his observations can go on. I would have been better off owning this book, so I could pick it up and put it down intermittantly over a large amount of time. However, I requested it from the library which meant my time with it was quite short. I had to set reading goals to get through it, which I hated, because as far as I'm concerned prose this well written should be savored. So, a rare call to all to purchase this book, not to get it from the library."
"Subtitled A Gardener's Education, this book really deserves to be considered a modern classic in the field of gardening and environmental thinking. It's a beautifully written and engaging look at gardening, taking in the definition of gardens, their history and culture, the importance of the lawn to the North American identity, gardening philosophy and the social insights given by seed catalogues. It is also thought provoking about the relationship of the gardener with the wider natural world and the place of humankind within nature."
"In this book, Pollan attempts to find the happy medium between nature and culture in raising a garden. I identified so much with his struggles right from the start when he expressed his resistance to building a fence to keep a woodchuck out of his garden. Fences just don't seem part of the natural landscape, but really gardens aren't either. I also enjoyed reading his thoughts on the American lawn, and how much time and money people spend on them and why no one puts their vegetable gardens in their front yards. I could go on and on about all the things this book made me think about, but I'm having trouble putting it into words. In this book Pollan writes a lot about the proper role of humans in the natural world. How much we should attempt to control it, when we should let nature run it's course. As Pollan's musings tend to go, there is no simple answer, just a lot of general ideas.
I don't know if I would have enjoyed this book as much if I wasn't attempting to grow my own garden for the first time as well, and I'll admit that part of the reason I liked it was probably because I agreed with most of Pollan's ideas and I got to feel a little self-righteous along with Pollan about my theories of nature. Otherwise, I think the tone may have been a little annoying.
I thought the book was well written, but sometimes a little too flowery for my tastes."
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