Flower Confidential

出版者:Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

作者:Amy Stewart

页数:306

出版时间:2007-2-9

价格:GBP 18.82

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9781565124387

具体描述

We buy more flowers a year than we do Big Macs, spending $6.2 billion annually. We use them to mark our most important events, to express sentiments that might otherwise go unsaid. And we demand perfection. So it’s no surprise that there is a $40 billion global industry devoted to making flowers flawless.

Amy Stewart takes us inside the flower trade—from the hybridizers, who create new varieties in the laboratory, to the growers, who produce flowers by the millions (often in a factory-like setting), to the Dutch auctioneers, who set the bar (and the price), and ultimately to the neighborhood florists orchestrating the mind-boggling demands of Valentine’s and Mother’s Day. There’s the breeder intent on developing the first blue rose; an eccentric horticultural legend who created the world’s most popular lily; a grower of gerberas of every color imaginable; and the equivalent of a Tiffany diamond: the “ Forever Young” rose.

Stewart explores the relevance of flowers in our lives and in our history, and in the process she reveals all that has been gained—and lost—by tinkering with nature.

作者简介

Amy Stewart lives in northern California, where she and her husband own an antiquarian bookstore called Eureka Books. She writes books by typing very quickly and loudly on a jet black keyboard that has no letters printed on the keys, proving (to herself, because no one else particularly cares) that she is an excellent touch typist.

When she's not writing books, reading them, or shelving them, she might be painting. You can see examples of her paintings here and here.

You can also find her all over the country speaking to audiences at bookstores, botanical gardens, garden clubs, and college and museum lecture series. To find out if she's coming to your town, visit the Events page of her website.

Four of Amy's books have been New York Times bestsellers, and she has enjoyed contributing to the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Good Morning America, and CBS Sunday Morning.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) granted her a Creative Writing Fellowship, and she's the winner of the American Horticultural Society's Book Award.

读后感

有点意外。鲜花帝国，以为是写充满鲜花的世界，实际是写整个鲜花贸易的全过程的——鲜花贸易构成的全产业链图景，自成帝国。从育种，到种植，最后销售，鲜花如今既然通过买卖来到我们身边，当然也是一种普通的商品。只是因为其对自然的象征意义，或许还因为其不带来任何实际性...  

看书名以为会是一本介绍自然界的花，但是讲的是人类的鲜花贸易。但本来帝国就是一个人类社会才有的啊，所以帝国的书名其实没有错啊。 本书在开头其实是提出了疑问的，花本来是植物的性器，但是在人类赋予了他们不同的含义，甚至违背了他们的天性不再让他们产生花粉，香味，从而...  

有点意外。鲜花帝国，以为是写充满鲜花的世界，实际是写整个鲜花贸易的全过程的——鲜花贸易构成的全产业链图景，自成帝国。从育种，到种植，最后销售，鲜花如今既然通过买卖来到我们身边，当然也是一种普通的商品。只是因为其对自然的象征意义，或许还因为其不带来任何实际性...  

看书名以为会是一本介绍自然界的花，但是讲的是人类的鲜花贸易。但本来帝国就是一个人类社会才有的啊，所以帝国的书名其实没有错啊。 本书在开头其实是提出了疑问的，花本来是植物的性器，但是在人类赋予了他们不同的含义，甚至违背了他们的天性不再让他们产生花粉，香味，从而...  

有点意外。鲜花帝国，以为是写充满鲜花的世界，实际是写整个鲜花贸易的全过程的——鲜花贸易构成的全产业链图景，自成帝国。从育种，到种植，最后销售，鲜花如今既然通过买卖来到我们身边，当然也是一种普通的商品。只是因为其对自然的象征意义，或许还因为其不带来任何实际性...