No table of contents?!?!?

Unacceptable that they should, in this day and age, publish an audiobook without a table of contents!!!

8 people found this helpful

Another great book from Pollan

This book explores two subjects that I have not given much thought to and one that I think about constantly.

The material is interesting, peppered with interviews and read as only an author can read their book.

For me, the chapter on caffeine seemed quite light, likely because I have already researched coffee a fair bit. (I would like to point out that although Pollen makes the point that growers make barely any money, the process from bean to cup accounts for a lot of different costs, and if the café is charging a sensible premium then the costs to get the coffee to you do make up 98%< of the cost and are warranted.)

Additionally I feel like, although Pollan points out the difference between cultural appropriation and the use of peyote (diminishing supply for native Americans). The use of the term is self reinforcing its use in culture - cultures have borrowed and changed each others customs for melania and the current narrative that this is a bad thing only serves to demonise those who a bad actor wishes to dispense with.

3 people found this helpful

Interesting, but not as good as How to change your mind

I’ve very much enjoyed Michael Pollan’s books and this is a great read too - or great reading by the author I should say. It’s a nice accompaniment to his previous book, How to Change Your Mind, which I highly recommend. However, a bit shorter, a bit lighter, it just wasn’t as deep or good. One chapter being a previously published article, was this a bit of a rushed book through the pandemic? It seems like it. Worth reading but I feel there was more in the author.

2 people found this helpful

A gentle, humane ride

What a pleasure it is to spend several hours in Michael Pollan’s company as he walks us through the history and impact of these fascinating plants. The writing is excellent, as usual. I could have listened to many more minutes.

1 person found this helpful

Fantastic

A fantastic and interesting book - learnt so many new things. The parts on caffeine and mescaline were great - amazing to see how they have affected our lives! The narrator was also excellent.

A must read!

An amazing read! Deeply interesting, a can-not-put-the-book-down experience! Grasping the whole human history of plant medicine, while also allowing you to make up your mind.

Curious about caffeine

Michael Pollan was made to narrate his stories! A wonderful listen. The story itself: a social history of caffeine opium and mescaline (from peyote) is varied. There’s some limited self awareness of a white researcher/ writer investigating indigenous medicine and what that means and some distinction given to western (scientific) epistemology vs the multiplicity of indigenous ways of knowing, though a detailed reflection on this did feel somewhat limited. The chapters on caffeine and opium are, however, very very intriguing and worth a listen. Though listen with a wider curiosity - this is one man’s account, after all.

Unexpected Perspectives

I enjoyed this book as much as “How to Change Your Mind”, in its thoughtful and unusual take on the dangers of being raided by a SWAT team and the DEA for having poppies in your garden, Caffeine as the psychoactive stimulus for the Enlightenment, and the healing that Peyote has brought to Native American culture, and the re-traumatising threat of the cacti’s extinction by white psychonauts.

Pollen makes a powerful case against the counterproductive blunt instrument of the “War on Drugs”, as well as the traumatic damage our insensitivity to the cultural appropriation of the sacraments of ancient cultures can cause.

I also love books read by the author, and his first hand subjective experiences of the effects of these plants is related with wit and insight.

Superb...

The writing and delivery of this book are excellent.

Having listened to over 200 audible titles I can say that this book clearly makes my top 10.

I have listened to and kept 200 titles, I return books that do not meet my high expectations, so to get into my top 10 is difficult. Most books I have kept, I have rated 5-star as they have been excellent in every way. Therefore, I consider this book to be 6-star material.

Now for my next listen, another Michael Pollan book, Food Rules.

Gripping as ever

I'm a true Pollan fan and this book did not disappoint. a fascinating read I could barely put down and got through quickly. I was surprised and shocked though at his frequent reference to "American Indians" a term I understood to be considered racist now.