Peter Matthiessen
author profile
born
May 22, 1927
gender
male
place of birth
New York City, The United States
genre
Literature & Fiction, Nonfiction, Outdoors & Nature
about this author
Peter Matthiessen was born in New York City in 1927 and had already begun his writing career by the time he graduated from Yale University in 1950. The following year, he was a founder of The Paris Review. Besides At Play in the Fields of the Lord, which was nominated for the National Book Award, he has published six other works of fiction, including Far Tortuga and Raditzer. Mr. Matthiessen's parallel career as a naturalist and explorer has resulted in numerous widely acclaimed books of nonfiction, among them The Snow Leopard, which was awarded the National Book Award for non-fiction. He won the National Book Award for fiction in 2008 for his novel Shadow Country. He lives in Sagaponack, New York.
Sign up for Goodreads to pick your favorite quotes and books by Peter Matthiessen.
avg rating: 4.01
| 3,283 ratings
| 562 reviews
| 55 distinct works
|
12 fans
More books by Peter Matthiessen…
|
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 4.16 — 690 ratings — published 1978 20 editions |
my rating: 
|
|
At Play in the Fields of the Lord by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 4.02 — 337 ratings — published 1983 12 editions |
my rating:
|
|
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 4.02 — 292 ratings — published 2008 5 editions |
my rating:
|
|
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 4.26 — 231 ratings — published 1983 10 editions |
my rating:
|
|
Killing Mister Watson by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 3.91 — 144 ratings — published 1991 11 editions |
my rating:
|
|
Far Tortuga by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 3.91 — 142 ratings — published 1975 7 editions |
my rating:
|
|
The Tree Where Man Was Born by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 3.94 — 51 ratings — published 1969 13 editions |
my rating:
|
|
Lost Man's River: by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 3.90 — 50 ratings — published 1997 4 editions |
my rating:
|
|
Nine-Headed Dragon River: Zen Journals 1969-1982 by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 3.81 — 47 ratings — published 1986 5 editions |
my rating:
|
|
Tigers in the Snow by Peter Matthiessen avg rating 3.90 — 41 ratings — published 2000 5 editions |
my rating:
|
upcoming events
No scheduled events.
"Soon the child’s clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions, and abstractions. Simple free being becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor of the ego. Not until years later does an instinct come that a vital sense of mystery has been withdrawn. The sun glints through the pines and the heart is pierced in a moment of beauty and strange pain, like a memory of paradise. After that day, we become seekers."
— Peter Matthiessen
— Peter Matthiessen
"Figures dark beneath their loads pass down the far bank of the river, rendered immortal by the streak of sunset upon their shoulders"
— Peter Matthiessen (The Snow Leopard)
— Peter Matthiessen (The Snow Leopard)
"When we are mired in the relative world, never lifting our gaze to the mystery, our life is stunted, incomplete; we are filled with yearning for that paradise that is lost when, as young children, we replace it with words and ideas and abstractions - such as merit, such as past, present, and future - our direct, spontaneous experience of the thing itself, in the beauty and precision of this present moment."
— Peter Matthiessen
— Peter Matthiessen
polls
topics mentioning this author
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fiction files redux: Peter Matthiessen | 7 | 27 | May 07, 2009 11:39PM | |
| The Complete Idio...: October book club nominees | 5 | 61 | Aug 26, 2009 07:13PM |
