The Reason for Flowers

Their History, Culture, Biology, and How They Change Our Lives

By: Stephen Buchmann

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Flowers, and the fruits that follow, feed, clothe, sustain, and inspire all humanity. Flowers are used to celebrate all-important occasions, to express love, and are also the basis of global industries. Americans buy 10 million flowers a day, and perfumes are a worldwide industry worth $30 billion annually. Stephen Buchmann takes us along on an exploratory journey of the roles flowers play in the production of our foods, spices, medicines, and perfumes while simultaneously bringing joy and health.

Flowering plants continue to serve as inspiration in our myths and legends, in the fine and decorative arts, and in literary works of prose and poetry. Flowers seduce us - and animals, too - through their myriad shapes, colors, textures, and scents. Here he integrates fascinating stories about the many colorful personalities who populate the world of flowers and the flowers and pollinators themselves with a research-based narrative that illuminates just why there is, indeed, a Reason for Flowers.

©2015 Stephen Buchmann (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Stephen Buchmann is a gifted storyteller and an inquisitive scientist who is intrigued by the dazzling and intricate world of flowers." (Amy Stewart, author of The Flower Confidential)

Only for the Flower Lover

I was hoping that this book would be more science based but found it to be a compilation if facts rather than scientific. If you are a lover of flowers, you will probably enjoy the book. If you are looking for a good science book, keep looking.

A Bit Of A Drone

This book was, to be honest, a bit of a factual drone and a mansplain. However interesting i found the topic, the constant flitting from theme to theme, spitting out of popular cleches, anecdotes, lay prose, recipes, and lists, made "The Reason for Flowers" hard for me to enjoy in audio form. There were, of course, many aspects to this book i enjoyed, and i'd encourage anyone with a dawning interest in floriculture to check it out. It is well worth listening to, but, for me, the study seemed to lack structure and a governing thesis to keep me listening.

A Gardener's Thoughts

If you could sum up The Reason for Flowers in three words, what would they be?

Latin sucks big-time! Why do I say that? Because learning a dead language to use for the name of flowers is a hard thing to do when one is no longer in school. The author is justified in using the botanical names however, which is understood.

What other book might you compare The Reason for Flowers to and why?

Can't think of any off hand other than those from cosmologists. Same sort of difficult nomenclature to assimilate.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Yen – was your favorite?

There was no character in this book. Not that I recall.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely not.

Any additional comments?

I'm a professional gardener, so spend four hours at a time, weeding beds, deadheading flowers and keeping other people's gardens looking nice. I enjoyed the book on several levels but sadly won't retain those Latin names, for the most part. And, most folks are content with common names for their plants anyhow, when we talk. Still, it was a worthy narration chattering in my head while I worked. Not panning this book in the least. I enjoyed it and have respect for the author.

Dull

Rambling, a bit disjointed. Narrator seems to epitomize the expression "tongue in cheek." Maybe an abridged version would be the way to go.