THE BOTANY OF DESIRE A Plant’s-Eye View of the World

The autobiographies of four plants--a fruit (the apple), a flower (the tulip), a drug plant (cannabis), and a staple food (the potato)--will delight listeners with stories of greed, starvation, riches, and disaster. Who would know that Johnny Appleseed’s success was because his apples were being used to make alcohol rather than pies, or that Dutch fortunes were made and lost with a unique tulip bulb? Scott Brick uses his skill with expression and tonal changes to make scientific information go down like the medicine with a spoonful of honey. He capitalizes on the author’s casual style--the writer admits he smokes pot--to produce an audible intoxication. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]