{"title":"Books by Michael Pollan","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780141985138","title":"How to Change Your Mind","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE NO. 1 \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eNOW A MAJOR NEW NETFLIX SERIES\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Reminds us that the mind is the greatest mystery in the universe' Yuval Noah Harari,\u003ci\u003e Guardian, \u003c\/i\u003eBooks of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eCould psychedelic drugs change our worldview? Join Michael Pollan on a journey to the frontiers of the human mind.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDiving deep into an extraordinary world - from shamans and magic mushroom hunts to the  pioneering labs mapping our brains - and putting himself forward as a  guinea-pig, Michael Pollan has written a remarkable history of  psychedelics and a compelling portrait of the new generation of  scientists fascinated by the implications of these drugs. \u003ci\u003eHow to Change Your Mind\u003c\/i\u003e is a report from what could very well be the future of consciousness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'\u003c\/i\u003eA  sweeping and often thrilling chronicle of the history of psychedelics,  all interwoven with Pollan's adventures as a psychedelic novice. This is  a serious work of history and science, but also one in which the  author, under the influence of toad venom, becomes convinced he's giving  birth to himself' Oliver Burkeman, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A mind-altering book ... full of transformations' Richard Godwin, \u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'An  irresistible blend of history, research and personal experience. In  terms of the psychedelic wave, the book is the big kahuna, the Big Bang  moment for a movement that is gathering force' John McKenna, \u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Entertaining and engrossing' Paul Laity, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Deeply absorbing, wise and beautifully written' Mick Brown, \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'An astounding book' Andrew Sullivan, \u003ci\u003eNew York Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201469120690,"sku":"9780141985138","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141985138_c21bc5b8-1aac-4bc7-9f75-367399a860ff.jpg?v=1786011082"},{"product_id":"9780141997339","title":"This Is Your Mind On Plants","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR NEW NETFLIX SERIES, HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'It's a trip - engrossing, eye-opening, mind altering' \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Fascinating. Pollan is the perfect guide ... curious, careful, open minded' \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Of all the many things humans rely on plants for, surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate, calm, or completely alter the qualities of our mental experience. In \u003ci\u003eThis Is Your Mind On Plants\u003c\/i\u003e, Michael Pollan explores three very different drugs - opium, caffeine and mescaline - and throws the fundamental strangeness of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs, while consuming (or in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants, and the equally powerful taboos.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In a unique blend of history, science, memoir and reportage, Pollan shines a fresh light on a subject that is all too often treated reductively. In doing so, he proves that there is much more to say about these plants than simply debating their regulation, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. This ground-breaking and singular book holds up a mirror to our fundamental human needs and aspirations, the operations of our minds and our entanglement with the natural world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201503133874,"sku":"9780141997339","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141997339_34f19a4a-77cf-406a-85e1-eb371a820c7d.jpg?v=1786011446"},{"product_id":"9780141975627","title":"Cooked","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE INSPIRATION FOR THE NEW \u003ci\u003eNETFLIX \u003c\/i\u003eSERIES \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'It's not often that a life-changing book falls into one's lap ... Yet Michael Pollan's \u003ci\u003eCooked \u003c\/i\u003eis one of them.' \u003ci\u003eSundayTelegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'This is a love song to old, slow kitchen skills at their delicious best' Kathryn Huges, \u003ci\u003eGUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eTop Five Bestseller - Michael Pollan's uniquely enjoyable quest to understand the transformative magic of cooking\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMichael Pollan's Cooked takes us back to basics and first principles: cooking with fire, with water, with air and with earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMeeting cooks from all over the world, who share their wisdom and stories, Pollan shows how cooking is at the heart of our culture and that when it gets down to it, it also fundamentally shapes our lives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFilled with fascinating facts and curious, mouthwatering tales from cast of eccentrics, Cooked explores the deepest mysteries of how and why we cook.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201534886066,"sku":"9780141975627","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141975627.jpg?v=1786011692"},{"product_id":"9780747563006","title":"The Botany of Desire","description":"A farmer cultivates genetically modified potatoes so that a customer at McDonald's half a world away can enjoy a long, golden french fry. A gardener plants tulip bulbs in the autumn and in the spring has a riotous patch of colour to admire. Two simple examples of how humans act on nature to get what we want. Or are they? What if those potatoes and tulips have evolved to gratify certain human desires so that humans will help them multiply? What if, in other words, these plants are using us just as we use them? In blending history, memoir and superb science writing, Pollan tells the story of four domesticated species - the apple, the tulip, marijuana and the potato. All four plants are integral to our everyday lives and Pollan demonstrates how each has thrived by satisfying one of humankind's most basic desires. Weaving fascinating anecdote and accessible science, Pollan takes the reader on an absorbing journey through the landscape of botany and desire. It is a journey that will change the way we think about our place in nature","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204071653554,"sku":"9780747563006","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780747563006.jpg?v=1786015295"},{"product_id":"9781408812181","title":"The Omnivore's Dilemma","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Outstanding . . . a wide-ranging invitation to think through the moral ramifications of our eating habits.\" The New Yorker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the best-selling author of How to Change Your Mind, A World Appears and \u003ci\u003eThe Botany of Desire\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat shall we have for dinner? Such a simple question has grown to have a very complicated answer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe \u003ci\u003ecan\u003c\/i\u003e eat almost anything nature has to offer, but deciding what we \u003ci\u003eshould\u003c\/i\u003e eat stirs anxiety. Should we choose the organic apple or the conventional? If organic, local or imported? Wild fish or farmed? Low-carb or low-cal?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the American culture of fast food and unlimited choice invades the world, Pollan follows his next meal from land to table, tracing the origin of everything consumed and the implications for ourselves and our planet. His astonishing findings will shock all who care about what they put on their plate.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204378788018,"sku":"9781408812181","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408812181.jpg?v=1786019726"},{"product_id":"9780593531549","title":"The Botany of Desire Young Readers Edition","description":"\u003cb\u003eBy the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Omnivore's Dilemma,\u003c\/i\u003e this is Michael Pollan's ingenious companion book about the surprising and close relationship between people and plants.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this entertaining young readers edition of the environmental studies classic, Michael Pollan demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a reciprocal relationship. He links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, energy, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, coffee, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also helped \u003ci\u003ethem \u003c\/i\u003eto thrive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Botany of Desire\u003c\/i\u003e is perfect for STEM-focused young readers who want to learn more about:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ehuman history, biology, and environmentalism\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eclimate change and its impact on our relationship with plants\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003egardening and the human-plant relationship\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44203312513202,"sku":"9780593531549","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780593531549_a1809693-623a-403c-b130-9437acbe5d05.jpg?v=1786014715"},{"product_id":"9780141034720","title":"In Defence of Food","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichael Pollan's \u003ci\u003eIn Defence of Food\u003c\/i\u003e is a simple invitation to junk the science, ditch the diet and instead rediscover the joys of eating well.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  This book is a celebration of food. By food, Michael Pollan means real, proper, simple food - not the kind that comes in a packet, or has lists of unpronounceable ingredients, or that makes nutritional claims about how healthy it is. More like the kind of food your great-grandmother would recognize.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  By following a few pieces of advice (Eat at a table - a desk doesn't count. Don't buy food where you'd buy your petrol!), you will enrich your life and your palate, and enlarge your sense of what it means to be healthy and happy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003eIt's time to fall in love with food again.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'Brings home the real wonder of eating food' \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'Instantly makes redundant all diet books and 99 per cent of discussions around healthy eating ... Sense, at last'\u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'Pollan invites us to grab our pots and pans and cook some real food for dinner'\u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eTime Out\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'Read this witty book for a healthier life and diet'\u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'Eminently sensible' \u003cbr\u003e  Fay Maschler, \u003ci\u003eKeynote\u003c\/i\u003e    \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'A must-read ... satisfying, rich ... loaded with flavour' \u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eSunday Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  For the past twenty years, \u003cb\u003eMichael Pollan \u003c\/b\u003ehas been writing about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect: food, agriculture, gardens, drugs, and architecture. His most recent book, about the ethics and ecology of eating, is \u003ci\u003eThe Omnivore's Dilemma\u003c\/i\u003e, named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eand the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e. He is also the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Botany of Desire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Place of My Own \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Second Nature\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224211304821,"sku":"9780141034720","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141034720_ab5cbf7a-9da4-41a7-839e-f255595717e8.jpg?v=1786011716"},{"product_id":"9780141048680","title":"Food Rules","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn sixty-four bite-sized pieces of advice, Michael Pollan's \u003ci\u003eFood Rules \u003c\/i\u003etells you everything you need to know to eat healthily, dine happily and live well. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003ci\u003eEat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  Using those seven simple words as his guide, internationally-acclaimed food journalist Michael Pollan offers this indispensable handbook for anyone concerned about health and food. Sensible, easy to use and written in plain English, \u003ci\u003eFood Rules\u003c\/i\u003e is a set of memorable adages or designed to help you eat real food in reasonable amounts, gathered from a wide variety of sources: nutritionists, anthropologists, ancient cultures - and grandmothers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  Whether at the supermarket, a restaurant or an all-you-can-eat buffet, this handy, pocket-size resource is the perfect manual for anyone who would like to become more mindful of the food we eat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'In more than four decades I have come across nothing more intelligent, sensible and simple to follow than these principles'\u003cbr\u003e    \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  'Instantly makes redundant all diet books and 99 per cent of discussions around healthy eating ... Sense, at last'\u003cbr\u003e   \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e, praise for \u003ci\u003eIn Defence of Food\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Pollan invites us to grab our pots and pans and cook some real food for dinner'  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003ci\u003eTime Out\u003c\/i\u003e, praise for \u003ci\u003eIn Defence of Food\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Read this witty book for a healthier life and diet'\u003cbr\u003e   \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e, praise for \u003ci\u003eIn Defence of Food\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cb\u003eMichael Pollan\u003c\/b\u003e has been writing for over twenty years about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect: food, agriculture, gardens, drugs, and architecture. \u003ci\u003eThe Omnivore's Dilemma\u003c\/i\u003e, about the ethics and ecology of eating, was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e. He is also the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Botany of Desire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Place of My Own\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSecond Nature\u003c\/i\u003e and, most recently, \u003ci\u003eIn Defence of Food\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224331104629,"sku":"9780141048680","price":7.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141048680_c7f855c5-b5c7-41de-90ad-18be4b37fb60.jpg?v=1786011157"},{"product_id":"9780141997025","title":"Food Rules","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn twenty short books, Penguin brings you the classics of the environmental movement.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFood Rules\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e, Michael Pollan's wise and witty critique of the western industrialised diet, distils the wisdom of history and traditional cultures to three simple rules: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOver the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As life on Earth has become irrevocably altered by humans, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend the planet, and affirm our place at the heart of its restoration. Their words have endured through the decades, becoming the classics of a movement. Together, these books show the richness of environmental thought, and point the way to a fairer, saner, greener world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56225288618357,"sku":"9780141997025","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141997025_c527b3b4-6268-4bea-97f8-e52e0c9bd223.jpg?v=1786011436"},{"product_id":"9780241509470","title":"A World Appears: Exploring the Labyrinth of Consciousness","description":"A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA BARACK OBAMA 2026 SUMMER READING LIST PICK'Big, generous, illuminating and beautifully written' John Banville, Financial TimesFrom the best-selling author of How to Change Your Mind, a pioneering search for consciousness in the brain and beyond A World Appears is the story of the quest to solve the greatest mystery in nature: consciousness. How does it feel to be you with your own personal feelings, thoughts and experiences? Every one of us is intimately familiar with consciousness, but no one knows how – or why – it came to be that three pounds of grey matter can generate a subjective point of view.   The early 1990s marked the birth of a new science of consciousness, based on the assumption that the phenomenon could be explained in terms of brain activity, but that effort is faltering, and wilder ideas, such as panpsychism, are now getting a hearing. Indeed, there is now reason to doubt that ‘objective science’ as we have known it since Galileo has the right tools to plumb first-person experience. A World Appears takes Michael Pollan from the laboratories where scientists are searching for the neural correlates of consciousness to encounters with philosophers and novelists and Buddhist monks, whom he finds have just as much to teach us about consciousness, if not more.   A story that begins in a brain lab in Seattle ends, of all places, in a cave in the mountains of New Mexico, where the author discovers that explaining consciousness may be less urgent than learning to practice it in our everyday lives.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56367857992053,"sku":"9780241509470","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241509470_e4dcb385-c910-4ee3-85c5-19c1b93997ac.jpg?v=1786012965"},{"product_id":"a-world-appears","title":"A World Appears","description":"When it comes to consciousness, there is one point scientists, philosophers and artists all agree on: that it feels like something to be ourselves. And yet, the fact that each and every one of us has a subjective experience of the world continues to be one of the greatest mysteries in nature. How is it that our mental operations are accompanied by feelings, thoughts and a sense of self? What would studying the inner life scientifically even look like?What began for Michael Pollan as a startling awareness of his own consciousness soon evolved into a deeper fascination with this strange and elusive phenomenon. In A World Appears, Pollan traces the unmapped continent that is consciousness from several radically different perspectives – scientific, philosophical, spiritual, historical and psychedelic – to see what each has to teach us about this fundamental fact of our lives.   Here Pollan ventures beyond the brain labs attempting to find neural explanations for our felt reality, and discovers the latest cutting-edge advances in the field. He introduces us to plant neurobiologists studying nature’s surprisingly complex intelligence; neuroscientists and psychoanalysts attempting to engineer feeling into AI; and novelists recreating our slippery stream of consciousness.   Pollan’s dazzling exploration of consciousness uncovers a world far deeper than our everyday reality – and perhaps even beyond it.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57495461953909,"sku":"9780141996493","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-michael-pollan.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}