I said I wouldn’t give bad reviews of books, but that is because I assume everyone is writing in good faith, but I just don’t see it here. The author, Stefano Mancuso, might be an expert in plants… or maybe isn’t. I mean, his resume suggests he knows far more than I do, but it is not evident in this book. For starters, there is very little about plants in this book. For example, there was a section on coconuts, and I thought, “Great! I do not know nearly as much about coconuts as I would like.” Then, the author spent several pages relating a human-interest story about a sun-worshiping cult that believed eating coconuts would bring immortality. Yes, that is actually very interesting, but I also didn’t learn anything about coconuts, or what their incredible journey is.

I feel like Stefano Mancuso gave us a hint of actual ecology, but what he really wanted was a book like Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire. Botany of Desire wasn’t heavy on the science, but it gave a lengthy description of the species it chose and the human relationship with each. That was clearly the goal of the book. This was very light on even that.

The reason I found the book so distasteful was its promotion–and actual bragging–about spreading invasive species. “True globalization. It has existed forever in nature. For plants, fortunately, tariffs, borders, travel bans, and barriers are meaningless concepts.” He’s not even technically correct. Clearly plants have found a litany of factors that prevented their invasive spread long before humans did the work for them. More shockingly is the fact that invasive species actually have many amazing features that make them invasive, but Mancuso fails to even relate that. I dislike invasives, but I can still respect the amazing adaptations that they have and can talk at length about many of them. This book won’t teach you that.

The author then took it a step further to actual state biological control of invasives was wrong-headed. “In the most fortunate cases they succeeded only in introducing a new species to worry about.” Biological control, when done improperly–as it has been at times in the past–has caused significant problems. And no, and biocontrol has not yet eradicated any invasive species (and probably will not), but it does help provide the ecosystem with some support for recovery. The fact that the author both promotes invasive species and denigrates biological control is without a doubt, a complete failure to understand ecology. Furthermore, if he really loves plants as he says he does, then he should be worried about the impending extinction of many rare plants pushed aside by invasives.

In conclusion, do not read this book. I was looking forward to both it and another by this author, but I will skip the second.