From Publishers Weekly
The second volume in Hogan and Peterson's trilogy on women and the natural world (following Intimate Nature: The Bond Between Women and Animals), this meditative, conscientious collection of 39 poems and essays ranges from personal to scientific entries written by women from all walks of life (including expected names, like Rachel Carson, Diane Ackerman, Kathleen Norris and Alice Walker, as well as more offbeat choices, like Isabel Allende and Zora Neale Hurston). Allende's tribute to her native Chile, from where she brought soil and forget-me-nots to replant in exile, is particularly moving, as is the wry poem Mulch by Linda Hasselstrom (Windbreak), in which the poet imagines that a biodegradable mash of photos, bills and old love letters keeps her garden free of weeds. Some pieces are light and sociable, like Sharman Apt Russell's essay on the mores of flower giving, while others are deliberate acts of feminist consciousness raising, such as psychologist Jeanne Achterberg's sociopolitical history of female homeopaths in medieval Europe who were murdered because of their seemingly magical remedies. Marine biologist Sylvia Earle takes readers on a walk on the ocean floor; Anita Endrezze compels us to admire kernels of corn as she memorializes her Mexican Indian heritage; biochemist Linda Jean Shepherd enjoins others to consider the ecological value of weeds. Not merely for nature lovers, this provocative collection ranks with the best anthologies of women's writing. Agents, Elizabeth Wales and Beth Vesel. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Editors Hogan (Mean Spirit) and Peterson (see Build Me an Ark, reviewed on p. 00) here collect more than three dozen pieces of nonfiction and poetry celebrating women's relationships with plants. Susan Orlean discusses the diversity of orchids, Isabel Allende explains the language of flowers, and Jeanne Achterberg tells of women healers and their persecution as witches. The selections include "Earth's Green Mantle," a chapter from Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, and a passage from Sandra Steingraber showing that things haven't changed all that much since that book's publication. Sharon Bertsch McGrayne writes about Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Barbara McClintock, and veterinarian Donna Kelleher tells how she cured a canary using herbs. These are just a sampling of the diverse selections, which share scientific discoveries, the indigenous knowledge of native women, and the personal connection some women have with plants. Complete citations to the excerpts included would have helped. Recommended for libraries whose patrons enjoy natural history and science anthologies.DSue O'Brien, Downers Grove P.L., IL Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Hogan and Peterson, two versatile and creative writers, celebrate the green world with a rich and diverse anthology. There would be no human beings without flora, Hogan and Peterson note, the source of "food, breath, and medicine," as well as beauty, and women, in particular, have learned the ways of plants and treasured their bounty. Not only have women gardened, used plants to heal, and found artistic inspiration in contemplation of flora, they have brought their botanical passion to science and environmentalism, and each of these interconnected forms of appreciation and expertise is represented here in essays both lyric and bracing. Isabel Allende writes of flowers, while Claudia Lewis praises mold. Annick Smith muses on berrypicking; Molly Peacock remembers the solace of her grandmother's garden; and Diane Ackerman marvels at rain forests. Mary Crow Dog writes of peyote and Kathleen Norris of trees by way of entry into the spiritual realm; and powerful, world-changing voices from the past--Zora Neal Hurston, Rachel Carson, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, champion of the Everglades--elevate this fertile collection to truly impressive heights. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"Dazzling it will captivate readers of all ages." --Kirkus Reviews

"A rich and diverse anthology Each of [women's] interconnected forms of appreciation and expertise is represented here in essays both lyric and bracing -- Powerful, world-changing voices from the past elevate this fertile collection to truly impressive heights." --Booklist

The Sweet Breathing of Plants is a fine celebration of both women's writing and the natural world. From the fragrant, delicate orchid to the tough and stubborn tumbleweed, here is vegetal life in all its rich and nourishing variousness: its politics and passions, its science, history, and mythologies, and the mint-steeped essence of its nostalgias."
--Jane Brox, author of Five Thousand Days Like This One

"Rooted in place, lacking a decipherable language, encased in shapes unlike our own, plants seem so foreign that we often forget the tie that binds us. The voices gathered in The Sweet Breathing of Plants not only remind us of it, but bring the wisdom and mystery of other lives into our own."
--Susan Tweit, author of Seasons on the Pacific Coast and City Foxes



Review
"Dazzling it will captivate readers of all ages." --Kirkus Reviews

"A rich and diverse anthology Each of [women's] interconnected forms of appreciation and expertise is represented here in essays both lyric and bracing -- Powerful, world-changing voices from the past elevate this fertile collection to truly impressive heights." --Booklist

The Sweet Breathing of Plants is a fine celebration of both women's writing and the natural world. From the fragrant, delicate orchid to the tough and stubborn tumbleweed, here is vegetal life in all its rich and nourishing variousness: its politics and passions, its science, history, and mythologies, and the mint-steeped essence of its nostalgias."
--Jane Brox, author of Five Thousand Days Like This One

"Rooted in place, lacking a decipherable language, encased in shapes unlike our own, plants seem so foreign that we often forget the tie that binds us. The voices gathered in The Sweet Breathing of Plants not only remind us of it, but bring the wisdom and mystery of other lives into our own."
--Susan Tweit, author of Seasons on the Pacific Coast and City Foxes



Review
"Dazzling it will captivate readers of all ages." --Kirkus Reviews

"A rich and diverse anthology Each of [women's] interconnected forms of appreciation and expertise is represented here in essays both lyric and bracing -- Powerful, world-changing voices from the past elevate this fertile collection to truly impressive heights." --Booklist

The Sweet Breathing of Plants is a fine celebration of both women's writing and the natural world. From the fragrant, delicate orchid to the tough and stubborn tumbleweed, here is vegetal life in all its rich and nourishing variousness: its politics and passions, its science, history, and mythologies, and the mint-steeped essence of its nostalgias."
--Jane Brox, author of Five Thousand Days Like This One

"Rooted in place, lacking a decipherable language, encased in shapes unlike our own, plants seem so foreign that we often forget the tie that binds us. The voices gathered in The Sweet Breathing of Plants not only remind us of it, but bring the wisdom and mystery of other lives into our own."
--Susan Tweit, author of Seasons on the Pacific Coast and City Foxes



Book Description
A bumper crop of the best writing by women on women and plants

Since prehistory, plants--as sources of food, medicine, clothing, beauty, and life itself--have been the province of women. Yet no previous book has attempted to bring together the rich literature this husbandry has inspired. This burgeoning collection amply addresses that lack, with more than three dozen selections of nonfiction and poetry.

As in Intimate Nature, their previous anthology on women and animals (edited with Deena Metzger), Linda Hogan and Brenda Peterson illuminate their subject from a range of perspectives. Here are curranderas and craftswomen whose legacy of plant wisdom safeguards our connection to the green world; botanists and geneticists; and visionaries like Rachel Carson, who show us the world--and our power to protect or destroy it--in a blade of grass. Here are Zora Neale Hurston on voodoo herbs, Sharman Apt Russell on the perfume of plants, Annick Smith on huckleberries, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas on the Everglades' "river of grass," Isabel Allende on the language of flowers, Susan Orleans on "Orchid Fever," Diane Ackerman on the rain forest, and Kathleen Norris on "Dreaming of Trees." Here is an eloquent "ode to mold," a paean to mulch, an elegy for elders. Here is a book that celebrates an ancient and ongoing relationship in a new and appealing way.



About the Author
Linda Hogan has published several books of poetry, essays, and fiction. She lives in Colorado.

Brenda Peterson is the author of three novels, two collections of essays, and numerous articles. She lives in Seattle.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Since prehistory, plants -- as sources of food, medicine, clothing, beauty, and life itself -- have been the province of women. This fertile relationship has inspired a rich literature, brought together here in a lush collection with more than three dozen selections of nonfiction and poetry. Here are curanderas and craftswomen whose legacy of plant wisdom safeguards our connection to the green world; botanists and geneticists; and visionaries like Rachel Carson, who shows us the world in a blade of grass. Here are Rigoberta Menchu on maize, Alice Walker on the "Revolutionary Petunia," Isabel Allende on the language of flowers, Susan Orlean on "Orchid Fever," Diane Ackerman on the rain forest, and Kathleen Norris on "Dreaming of Trees." Here is a book that celebrates an ancient and ongoing relationship in a new and appealing way.

FROM THE CRITICS

Jane Brox