David Taylor explores revealing connections between people and their worlds. His articles have appeared in Smithsonian, The Washington Post, The Village Voice, Outside, The Christian Science Monitor, Forbes, and The Atlantic Unbound. He has written award-winning documentaries for PBS, National Geographic, the Discovery Channel and others. Read recent articles here.
Listen to David's interview on NPR's All Things Considered, about a WW2-era American Cork Dream, from his article for Chesapeake Bay.

David is now working on a documentary entitled Soul of A People: Voices from the Writers Project. Ralph Ellison, John Cheever, Richard Wright, and Saul Bellow were young and hungry when they took jobs on an emergency relief effort in the 1930s. (Zora Neale Hurston was slightly better known, but not much.) This film gives the untold story of what they found then, and what it means now. More.

Praise for Ginseng, the Divine Root:

"Adventurous." -- Booklist

A "fascinating tour... a master storyteller." -- Library Journal

"An engaging cultural history." -- The Brooklyn Eagle

"Taylor has done an excellent job. I would highly recommend this book ... reminds me of Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore's Dilemma" -- Herbalgram

"An intelligent, wide-ranging account." -- Publishers Weekly

"Ginseng, the Divine Root is one of those rare works that remind us what an endlessly surprising place the world is by revealing the drama concentrated in the past and present of one plant." -- The Boston Globe

"Taylor has a gift for capturing the colorful characters along his journey. Ginseng, the Divine Root chronicles ... much about this plant and even more about human nature." -- Orion

"One of the most fascinating garden-oriented books I’ve read." -- London Free Press

"Like John McPhee, Taylor has the ability to turn nonfiction into a story with many plot turns and surprises... [A]fter reading this book, you’ll scan the forest floor a bit more diligently during your next hike in the woods." -- Winston-Salem Journal

"Taylor knits these diverse aspects of the plant’s influence, as well as his visits to ginseng haunts, into a charged historical narrative his book approaches having as powerful an effect on the imagination as that strange, puckered root." -- American Geographical Society

Ginseng, The Divine Root uncovers an epic tale of herbal medicine and the plant prized for centuries by emperors, Native American healers, herbalists and smugglers. Collected by Daniel Boone, ginseng was one of America's first major exports to the Far East. Today the herb is found in everything from traditional medicines to energy drinks. Wild ginseng has become a victim of its own popularity, and is under threat.

Ginseng, The Divine Root tracks the plant through one season, following American ginseng’s wild ride from remote forests to bustling markets in Hong Kong and mainland China.

The book weaves a fascinating journey laced with international crime, myths, gourmet cuisine, pop culture, herbal medicine, continental drift, and deep forests. Along the way readers encounter a stunning array of humanity.

Learn more at Algonquin Books. Featured in Outside and National Wildlife. See these and other articles.

Download recipes from the book, and hear David discuss root food on Good Food and A Chef's Table. Also hear NPR interviews on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, Wisconsin Public Radio's Here On Earth, and WUNC's The State of Things.

Read the full Boston Globe review here! Check out more reviews at Amazon and buy Ginseng, the Divine Root: The Curious History of the Plant That Captivated the World.

Or post your own review at Powell's (you could win a $20 gift certificate).

Chinese language edition
A Chinese edition of the book is now available. Published by Cultuspeak, the translation is on sale in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. To get your copy, click here.