Reviews

Cooked
Mark Bittman, The New York Times
“The man who so cogently analyzed production and nutrition in his best-known books has tackled what he calls ‘the middle link in the food chain: cooking.'”
Joe Yonan, The Washington Post
“The choice is clear: Occupy your kitchen!”
David Laskin, The Seattle Times
“Cooked is vintage Pollan — lucid, vivid, nimbly associative, insightful and just plain fun to read.”

Food Rules
Jane Brody, The New York Times
“In the more than four decades that I have been reading and writing about the findings of nutritional science, I have come across nothing more intelligent, sensible and simple to follow than the 64 principles outlined in a slender, easy-to-digest new book called Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, by Michael Pollan.”
Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times
“A useful and funny purse-sized manual that could easily replace all the diet books on your bookshelf.”

In Defense of Food
Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“A tough, witty, cogent rebuttal to the proposition that food can be reduced to its nutritional components without the loss of something essential … [a] lively, invaluable book.”
David Laskin, The Seattle Times
“Written with Pollan’s customary bite, ringing clarity and brilliance at connecting the dots.”
Jane Black, The Washington Post
“A remarkable volume … engrossing … [Pollan] offers those prescriptions Americans so desperately crave.”

The Omnivore’s Dilemma
David Kamp, The New York Times
“Thoughtful, engrossing … you’re not likely to get a better explanation of exactly where your food comes from.”
Bunny Crumpacker, The Washington Post
“An eater’s manifesto … [Pollan’s] cause is just, his thinking is clear, and his writing is compelling. Be careful of your dinner!”
Steven Shapin, The New Yorker
“Outstanding … a wide-ranging invitation to think through the moral ramifications of our current eating habits.”

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: Young Readers Edition
“Just as powerful as the adult version but perfectly tuned to a young audience, this title is essential food for thought.”
– Booklist
“Originally written for adults and now adapted for teens, this “must read” tells you much of what you need to know about the foods you put into your body on a daily basis.”
– Children’s Literature
“Based on Pollan’s best-selling adult book of the same title, this (slightly) shortened version will appeal to thoughtful, socially responsible teens.”
– School Library Journal

The Botany of Desire
“Pollan shines a light on our own nature as well as our implication in the natural world.”
– The New York Times
“A wry, informed pastoral.”
– The New Yorker
“We can give no higher praise to the work of this superb science writer/reporter than to say that his new book is as exciting as any you’ll read.”
– Entertainment Weekly
“A whimsical, literary romp through man’s perpetually frustrating and always unpredictable relationship with nature.”
– The Los Angeles Times

A Place of My Own
“A glorious piece of prose … Pollan leads readers on his adventure with humor and grace.”
– Chicago Tribune
“An utterly terrific book … an inspired meditation on the complex relationship between space, the human body, and the human spirit.”
– Francine du Plessix Gray
“Michael Pollan looks at the world as a poet does, very closely and obliquely, and writes in prose that has the brilliant plainness of a piece of Shaker furniture.”
– Janet Malcolm

Second Nature
“Second Nature is…as delicious a meditation on one man’s relationship with the earth as any of you are as likely to come upon.”
– The New York Times
“One of the distinguished gardening books of our time.”
– USA Today
“The best book about Americans and their gardens in decades. Second Nature reads like brilliant entertainment, but it is serious wisdom. Michael Pollan … is a genuine heir to my favorite nature writer, Mark Twain.”
– The Boston Globe