
The Nation of Plants
Reviews

For a book that is meant to portray the plant point of view (“…finally gets to speak”) and remove the ever-so-prominent human-centric perspectives of our planet (“Compared to our constitutions, which place humans at the center of the entire juridical reality…”), this reads more like the author’s personal manifesto. Was really excited about the writing challenge and concept of speaking from a non-human point of view about our current environmental challenges, particularly from plants who do so much of the heavy lifting of keeping this planet alive, but the idea wasn’t properly executed (or, at least introduced clearly).
That being said, Mancuso’s perspective of plants being a primary solution to climate change (cover cities with green!), approachable writing on anthropogenic data, and arguments for mutual aid/symbiosis was great. A quick read for anyone looking to think a little further on climate change and the interconnected organisms that call earth home. Enjoyed getting back into these ideas I sat with for so long during my thesis—would have been a helpful book for me during the time
Highlights

Animals resolve all their problems through movement, usually by moving to where the problem no longer exists. Not plants. Not being able to avoid them as animals do, plants are forced to face their problems.