Finished--FINALLY! If I had been reading Second Nature: A Gardener's Education in print, instead of listening to it on audio, I probably would have set it down in order to move on to something more interesting. Unfortunately, I must add Second Nature to the pile of, what I perceive to be, rather boring Pollan books, joining company with The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World. (Please note that I consider The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto not boring but excellent.

Second Nature, on the other hand, will appeal to only those who want to partake in in-depth philosophical discussions over the nature of a rose, a garden, a fence, etc. Or who are elitist gardening snobs who might enjoy reading about Pollan's assessment of the various gardening philosphies. Through his slightly snarky appraisals of the various seed catalogues out there, Pollan unfortunately comes off as the king of elitist gardening snobs. (Although I'm sure he's not.)

The shining jewel in this otherwise rather bland pseudo-memoir was Pollan's exploration of man's perpetual juxtaposition with nature, where even naturalists seem incapable of viewing man and nature as partners. Environmentalists and careless consumers alike view the earth in terms of either humanity OR nature, lacking any metaphor to view the two in harmony.