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Coming into the Country

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 · rating details · 2,335 ratings · 127 reviews

This is the story of Alaska and the Alaskans. Written with a vividness and clarity which shifts scenes frequently, and yet manages to tie the work into a rewarding whole, McPhee segues from the wilderness to life in urban Alaska to the remote bush country.

Paperback, 272 pages

Published April 1st 1991 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (first published 1977)

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Aug 04, 2011 Jacob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, travel, essays-letters-journals-etc

September 2010

All was not well in Alaska in the early 1960s. Darkness covered the land. The latest winter storm, which by then had already lasted half a century, still showed no sign of ending. The cold and the snow were beginning to wear the proud Alaskans down. Then Russia invaded. Again. The fledgling state was unprepared for war, and so the Alaskan Militia fell back before the forces of the Dark Lord Stalin, and the Red Army of Moscow reached the walls of Juneau. For two days and nights the...more September 2010

All was not well in Alaska in the early 1960s. Darkness covered the land. The latest winter storm, which by then had already lasted half a century, still showed no sign of ending. The cold and the snow were beginning to wear the proud Alaskans down. Then Russia invaded. Again. The fledgling state was unprepared for war, and so the Alaskan Militia fell back before the forces of the Dark Lord Stalin, and the Red Army of Moscow reached the walls of Juneau. For two days and nights the city was bombarded by communist orcs. On February 11, 1964, the third day of the seige, a light appeared on the horizon. It was the sun! After fifty years of endless night, dawn finally broke over Alaska! Rousing the defenders, the mighty wizard Ted Stevens the White led the final charge and drove the Red Army into the sea. Alaska won the day.

Ten years passed.

In the early 70s, the Prophet McPhee came to Alaska. He had had visions since the Great Dawn, terrible, awe-inspiring visions of a woman in red riding a war-grizzly. The priests he spoke to all agreed: it was the Mother of Grizzlies, Daughter of Alaska, the great Messiah-Queen of the prophecies who would restore the mighty Alaskan Empire to glory and lead Her armies out of the North to conquer the Lower 48. The Return of the Sun had marked the hour of Her birth, but none had seen sign of Her since. And so the Prophet McPhee vowed to find Her. Assembling a party of shamen, slaves (bearing gifts of gold, jewels, and newspapers), and mages from the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, the Department of Fish and Game, and other government agencies, McPhee set out into the widerness. Questions arose: was the Mother of Grizzlies also Daughter of Grizzlies, or was She merely a feral child, raised and educated in the ways of the bear? Would they find Her feasting on fish and berries, or did She hibernate in the caves of bears, sleeping until Alaska needed a savior? Russia had been silent for many years, but would surely invade again.

The expedition failed; most of the party was eaten by wolves or lost in skirmishes with the National Park Service, so they returned to Juneau. It was clear that, wherever the Queen of Alaska was, She would not reveal Herself until the time was right. So Alaska waited, and prepared. And the question was asked: where would Her Capital be? Juneau was not grand enough, and Anchorage and Fairbanks still lay in ruins from the war, so the Prophet McPhee again set out into the wilderness, again with his shamen and slaves and government bureaucrats, to find a suitable place to build Her Palace. And again the shamen were eaten by wolves, and the bureaucrats bickered, and the slaves revolted, so McPhee went back to Juneau.

The quest seemed hopeless. McPhee had not found the Chosen One or built Her City, and all his shamen were dead. But, inspired by rumors of a secret messiah breeding program, he set off alone, on a third expedition, following the elusive trail of a powerful sisterhood of sorceress-nuns. Here the narrative grows sketchy, as McPhee’s accounts of interviews of dozens of gold miners, hermits, holy men, ice-mages, and the occasional talking bear led him in dizzying circles, endlessly searching for a treasure that chose to remain secret.

McPhee apparently never found the Mother of Grizzlies, and left Alaska in disgrace. There are rumors, however, that he drank himself to death, only to be resurrected by an unidentified hirsute girl, but those stories remain unverified. Even McPhee’s account must be questioned. Were his visions true? Did he truly foresee the birth and rise of Alaska’s savior? If so, She remains hidden, and perhaps none will know the hour of Her coming.

Where is the bear and the rider? Where is the voice that is grating? IA! IA! SARAH PALIN FHTAGN!
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Feb 29, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

McPhee's Coming Into the Country is rightly considered a classic with its detailed description on life in mid-1970s Alaska. Much of the writing is stunning, packed full of river trips and anecdotes about characters the author encountered during his many months in the country. He captures well the contradictions embodied in many Alaskans: a thirst for solitude alternating with a an affinity for social gatherings, an abhorrence of government even as they live and trap on public land, and the spars...more

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Jun 16, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-nature

Things I learned about Alaska:

-- Merrill Field, a light-plane airfield in Anchorage, handles fifty-four thousand more flights per year than Newark International. This is so because bushplane trips are more common than taxis or driving, the roads being what they are.

-- Fried cranberries will help a sore throat.

-- That somethings are better left unchanged or not re-named:

"What would you call that mountain, Willie?"
"Denali. I'll go along with the Indians that far."
Everyone aboard was white but Will...more

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Feb 22, 2009 Liz rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was a challenge for me. McPhee divided his exploration of Alaska into three sections--the first, stage-setting section on the northern tree line; the second, uses the search for an ideal site for a new state capital to explore urban Alaska; and the final section, on "the bush," really focuses on the motives and lifestyles of in-migrants to the state. I breezed through the first two parts; the relocation of the state capital (which never happened) in particular was literally a bird's ey...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Clif Brittain rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love McPhee's writing. I first read this book when it was published in part in the New Yorker, and again soon after it was published as a book. So this is the third time I've read it. I've read maybe ten books three times, so I really, really like this.

First, because McPhee writes so beautifully. He could write about anything and I would read it. I've even read his geology books. Not because I like geology, (I don't), but because I just eat up his words. It is like eating chocolate, I usually...more

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Nov 18, 2009 Brian Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book has meant a lot to me as an Alaskan interested in the raggedy interplay between development and conservationism, although I had never read it in its entirety. Now I have. I would say this book at best offers a kind, sympathetic view of all sorts of Alaskans circa 1977, a period which I just barely remember from grade school. I still recall the statewide debate on whether to give "Mount McKinley" the new/old name of "Denali" as part of ANILCA, then called the D-2 Lands Bill, which was a...more This book has meant a lot to me as an Alaskan interested in the raggedy interplay between development and conservationism, although I had never read it in its entirety. Now I have. I would say this book at best offers a kind, sympathetic view of all sorts of Alaskans circa 1977, a period which I just barely remember from grade school. I still recall the statewide debate on whether to give "Mount McKinley" the new/old name of "Denali" as part of ANILCA, then called the D-2 Lands Bill, which was a hot-button topic (i.e. federal take-over) for Alaskans such as my parents. I remember the debate to move the capital to Willow. I remember John Denver's goodwill trip to Alaska to promote conservation and the passage of ANILCA. It was all HIGHLY charged politics in which the feds were dabbling, playing, frivolizing with OUR land. The outgrowth of both the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and the Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act are INCREDIBLY far reaching with regards to living and working in Alaska today. In that respect, the first two chapters of the book are now dated and rather nostalgic, kind of a time-capsule of what was going on while these landmark Congressional laws were being sussed out.

The chapter "Coming Into The Country" (nearly half of the book) on the Yukon River/Charley River area of Interior Alaska was by far the best part of the book, focusing on the communities of Central, Circle, and Eagle and the idealistic, sometimes hard-nosed characters that live there. Although McPhee, in what I've read, was an impressionable young man leaning to the side of environmental conservation at the expense of economic development, I think his writing in this book shows both a reverence for Alaska's brand of wilderness (in a word, awesome) as well as a sympathetic, humane perspective on the toll that Congressional protectionism, environmental regulation, and romantic idealism has on the lives of real families living in "the country".

(The best writing is the transcription of journal entries made by a young man, Rich Corazza, living alone in a cabin somewhere around Eagle. This section is one third into the last section "Coming Into The Country" and made me grin and laugh out loud. A true seeker with a good dose of humor and longing.) (less)

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Jul 26, 2011 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you are interested in tagging along with park planners, biologists, and wildlife experts as they scope out the terrain in 1970s Alaska for park designation; helicoptering around the state with city planners, McHargian acetaters (just a few years removed from when Ian McHarg first developed his overlay system), and politicians as they search for a new capitol of the state; or living among "bushmen" near the Yukon River and reveling in their stories of survival and pragmatism; then this is the...more

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Aug 19, 2009 R. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bushcraft-and-wilderness

I read this while traveling in Alaska for a month. It is still the baseline by which all other acconts of modern Alaska are measured, but a bit dated now. The chapter on the bush people of the Yukon (a third of the book) is still particularly evocative of the vanishing American frontier. It is sad to know that most of the people described by McPhee have now been pushed off the land by federal agencies that have seized vast swathes of the Alaskan wilderness (which means about 99% of the state); t...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Dan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

A wonderful book, only slightly tainted by it's obsolescence. As mentioned in other reviews, each chapter has been made quite out-of-date by events that have happened since publication. The book is broken into three parts. Backcountry paddling with bureaucrats and ecologists, trying to determine how the land should be split up; flying with bureaucrats, trying to decide on a new location for Alaska's capital; and living in Eagle, meeting the locals and describing their livelhoods.

I found the firs...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Nature Lovers, Lovers of Americana, Those Who Enjoy Literary Journalism

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: Ultimate Reading List - Travel

Shelves: non-fiction, ultimate-reading-list, travel, history, memoir, political

This book is about Alaska, at least circa 1976. Back then Alaska could boast a population of 400 thousand, of which 60 thousand were Native Americans. (As of 2011, Alaska's population had risen to 722,718.) Both then and now Anchorage boasted half the population. At the time Alaska became a state in 1959, the inhabitants hoped that would give them more control over their destiny--as McPhee explained, at the time only half of one percent of Alaska was in private hands--the rest was under federal...more This book is about Alaska, at least circa 1976. Back then Alaska could boast a population of 400 thousand, of which 60 thousand were Native Americans. (As of 2011, Alaska's population had risen to 722,718.) Both then and now Anchorage boasted half the population. At the time Alaska became a state in 1959, the inhabitants hoped that would give them more control over their destiny--as McPhee explained, at the time only half of one percent of Alaska was in private hands--the rest was under federal control. After statehood, about ten percent of the land was bestowed on Indians by the Native Claims Settlement Act, and most of the rest designated to become national parks. As for what was left over, Alaska became a land caught between "the Sierra Club syndrome and the Dallas scenario." McPhee had a way of showing the tension between two ideals--development versus preserving wilderness.

McPhee does this primarily by treating you to a guided tour of the quirky inhabitants both human and wild (not that there seems much distinction between the two much of the time.) People in the bush, particularly in Upper Yukon, refer to their part of Alaska as "the country." Strangers appearing are "said to have come into the country." And few Alaskans he tells us about are natives, but once were those strangers. The title essay takes up well over half of the book and focuses on the people of the Upper Yukon and especially those around Eagle Town (largely white) and Eagle Village (largely Native American.) Most of the people he features are trappers or miners. And surrounding them are salmon, grayling, grizzly, moose--and what a friend of mine once told me is the Alaskan state bird--the mosquito. (McPhee tells how one time he slapped his leg and counted 17 dead mosquitoes on his palm).

In an interview of Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, he said that John McPhee is "a god... he's a master of that detail... of explaining how things worked... of making the world an interesting place." Coming from one of my favorite authors, that was high-praise--as it turns out deserved. What I noted right away is that McPhee has style. It may not be to everyone's liking, but it's there. There's a rhythm to his prose, a way of writing shapely phrases, and a lyricism probably helped along by two-thirds of this book being written first person, present tense. He often bounces between stories and personalities in a very meandering way. There are at times these free-floating quotations, like a chorus, giving you different sides. So this above all is literary journalism. It's also good journalism. Not only in the sense that it's lively and informative, but even though McPhee makes no bones about having his own opinion: he's also fair. Other views get to be aired too. Sometimes eccentric, very idiosyncratic views, but not ones simply straw-men chosen to show up the ridiculousness of the disfavored side.

The book writes of a way of life more exotic to me, a Native New Yorker, than Beijing or Johannesburg. I find the lifestyle described more horrific than idyllic to be honest, not being one to rhapsodize nature--but it certainly was fascinating to read about in McPhee's hands. Even though this book is already decades old, I left feeling it I much better understood the state that's America's last frontier.(less)

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Jun 12, 2011 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In creating a sense of the place that is Alaska, McPhee explores what to do with the land. Alaska is the largest state, but is 50th in population. It is a state where cvilized places are islands in a sea of wilderness.

By introducing the reader to a cast of characters, McPhee demonstrates the tension that comes from conservationists and developers, people of the city and government versus the rugged individualist, dreams and reality, oil and nature, and others.

A well written book that raises so m...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Stuart rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

Not a bad book, but its age means that, for me in 2013, it was not as good as it probably was on first publication (1976). It's well written and must have been interesting in the 1970's when the proposed national parks were being surveyed, and potential sites for relocating the caiptal were under consideration. But now it's really only interesting for the descriptions of the many types of Alaskans who make up the state, including the conservationists, the native americans, the make-as-much-profi...more

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Jul 13, 2010 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm going to Alaska this summer and this book was recommended to me by the company that arranged the trip. It's well written and gives good insight into the 'real' Alaska. I learned a lot about the history of the state and of the mindset of many of the folks who lived there in the late 1960s-early 1970s. This book was published in 1975 and, as a history book, it's great. But for one who is interested in learning about what I'll find when I get to Alaska in a few days, it is very dated. A lot has...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Johanna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book took a while to finish. The first two sections were very interesting and I read through them quickly. In fact, I wish they were longer - especially since they gave the read more of a historical context for the book. The third section of the book (which account for 1/2-2/3 of the pages in the book) gets somewhat tedious by about the first 50 pages in. McPhee spends a lot of time describing the details of what seems like almost everyone who lives in the small village of Eagle, AK. He des...more

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Aug 23, 2009 Mary rated it 3 of 5 stars

OK, I admit it was the "Cheechakos and Sourdoughs" line that made me pick up this book on Alaska--I realized I knew very little about the state (for example, is it anywhere near Russia?) but was willing to learn, and I also hadn't read a McPhee book in a couple of years. The obvious flaw in this one is that it is very much a product of 1974, so it's difficult to read it without wondering how much is entirely different 35 years later (probably a whole lot). Still, I'm rather enjoying the section...more

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Dec 04, 2008 Eric_W rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: travel

“If anyone could figure out how to steal Italy, Alaska would be the place to hid it." What a vivid way to describe Alaska's immensity. 'There has been a host of excellent books on Alaska. My favorite until recently was Joe McGinnis's Going to Extremes but John McPhee's Coming Into the Country is wonderful, too.
McPhee's book is divided into three parts: first an exploration of wilderness described during the course of a canoe/kayak trip down the Salmon River. Much in the manner of the river, his...more “If anyone could figure out how to steal Italy, Alaska would be the place to hid it." What a vivid way to describe Alaska's immensity. 'There has been a host of excellent books on Alaska. My favorite until recently was Joe McGinnis's Going to Extremes but John McPhee's Coming Into the Country is wonderful, too.
McPhee's book is divided into three parts: first an exploration of wilderness described during the course of a canoe/kayak trip down the Salmon River. Much in the manner of the river, his descriptions meander into all sorts of eddies and whirlpools. His description of bush pilots is priceless. On one occasion he is flying (a regularly scheduled airline, mind you) in a single engine plane in horrible weather. The pilot is skimming the trees to find landmarks because he can't see anything. He has a map on his lap, but suddenly hands it to a passenger to help figure out where they are. "I had been chewing gum so vigorously that the hinges of my jaws would ache for two days."
Stumbling on a grizzly bear in a blueberry patch (fortunately upwind), he muses on the best way to survive a grizzly's charge - no consensus of opinion, but most survivors believe the best thing to do is stand absolutely still and shout as loudly as possible, for that is the least likely reaction the bear, which does not have good sight, would expect of game. Running away is useless for grizzlies are very fast. They are also quite coordinated. They enjoy schussing down snow-covered mountains at 96 feet/second through trees and around boulders only to screech to a stop, stand up and walk away, just before going -over the edge of a cliff.
The second part of the book discusses the Alaskan government's search for a new capital and the conflict that generated. Juneau really makes a lousy site because of its remoteness, not to mention its horrible landing approach to the airport. Alaska attracts very independent and anti-authoritarian types of people so it witnesses a battle between those suffering from the "Sierra Club Syndrome" or others fondly embracing the "Dallas Scenario."
Many of these folks are affectionately profiled in the third section. John Cook, for example, has consciously tried to eliminate the need for money and authority. He tries to live on $1,500 a year (this was written in the mid seventies); he has a series of trap lines and rarely uses a parka, even at -30'. The closest town is Eagle, about 30 miles away via dog sled, with a population of about 100. Almost all live by the ut restrictions on code, "Never put restrictions on any individual.... Up here they ain't gettin' you for spittin' on the sidewalk."
Ironically, most moved there for the space, yet land is less available (as of 1977) than in the lower '48 because when Alaska became a state deals were made with the native Americans and the federal government to set aside almost the entire state as either a reservation or park land. Whereas before statehood someone could build a cabin 80 miles from nowhere, now a government helicopter might fly over and throw them out. Homesteading no longer exists, but in Alaska that loss seems especially poignant in territory where you might have to fly somewhere to take a shower.

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Aug 03, 2008 Nadine rated it 3 of 5 stars

My family raves about John McPhee, but I wasn't thrilled with this book. I gave it a three star rating, but it was more like a 2 with some bits of 4's and 5's scattered throughout. Oddly, the parts I liked best were not about humans, but about grizzly bears. There's a lot of camping, fishing, airplane and boat jargon that I was too lazy to look up in a dictionary and therefore didn't really understand. The whole middle section is about differing views of where the capital of Alaska should be, an...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Pamela rated it 4 of 5 stars

3.75 actually. Read this while in Alaska -- the first and third sections; skipped the second section. First is about the Alaskan wilderness, third is about the people -- especially the white Alaskans who inhabit "the country" -- the upper Yukon. Gave me a real understanding of their perspective -- the way they have always lived -- their connection to the wilderness. Came away feeling that Alaska truly should not be a part of the US -- it is truly a different country.

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Feb 24, 2009 Johnsergeant rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: recorded-books

I enjoyed the audiobook, but at times it seemed to be repetitious, and I found my attention drifting.

Narrated By: Nelson Runger
14 CD / 16.25 Hours

Those who have traveled into America’s only remaining frontier rarely come back out the same. Only in Alaska can we come close to understanding what our forefathers must have felt upon their arrival in the New World. McPhee brings to this narrative the qualities that have distinguished him in the field of travel literature—tolerance, brisk, and enterta...more

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Dec 17, 2009 Mardel Fehrenbach rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have read this book before, but that neither lessens or increases my enjoyment of the book particularly. Although technically I would call McPhee a journalist, his writing at its best is better than that of most novelists writing today and his turn of phrase and powers of description can have a poetic quality. That said, although I loved reading this book, it is not my favorite book by this author and hence, not in my mind at least, his best, hence the rating of only four stars.

I have never w...more

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Nov 02, 2008 eric rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another good John McPhee collection of essays. I guess they're all pretty much like this, with some truly exceptional stuff mixed in with material that I find less appealing. The writing is always engaging but sometimes veers (usually briefly) into purple prose. Half the book is taken up with one long essay describing the residents of a tiny bush town on the Yukon River and the huge, almost totally unpopulated region surrounding the town. The area is apparently stuffed full of fascinating charac...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Eric Weisenhorn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I really enjoy John McPhee. I read this after reading "Survival of the Bark Canoe", also by John McPhee. This is an interesting history of Alaska and an enthralling account of the people he met living/surviving in the more remote areas of Alaska. These are tough, eccentric folk who have rejected the conventional suburban life of the lower 48 and thrive on the untamed and unforgiving wilderness of Alaska.

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Mar 07, 2012 K C rated it 4 of 5 stars

Seems funny to read this after I've left Alaska. Nonetheless, I still took great interest in the outlooks provided by McPhee. There are a number of political issues which have evolved since this was written but their topicality remains relevant. And to folks outside Alaska, as well. At times, especially in the third section, I grew weary of spending too much time in one locale or among the same group of people. As a result, the last fifty to one hundred pages felt like a long haul.

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May 05, 2013 Tom Romig rated it 4 of 5 stars

Who would have thought that I could sustain interest in a 438-page book about Alaska from start to finish? This is a tribute to the peerless skills of John McPhee. He is able to create, in only a sentence or two, life and depth for the many individuals he encounters in his Alaskan travels. "Lilly Allen--handsome, unadornedly feminine--is facially Puritan, sober, with a touch of anachronism about her, as if on Sundays somehow she occupies a front pew, listening to Cotton Mather." Wise, perceptive...more

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Feb 17, 2013 CX Scott added it

Written in the mid-70s, Coming into the Country remains interesting in the first and third sections. the first is an account of a trip down a wild river, the third is a long section on various Alaskans who live in the wilderness. Skip the middle section on the search for a new capital for the state. McPhee is a wonderful writer, but still could have improved the book with better organization in the third section.

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Feb 09, 2009 Charles rated it 5 of 5 stars

18 years later this book still resonates for its description of what the size of Alaska means in human scale. It also described the Alaskan psyche including those in the back country who truly did not value civilization or normal living. This prepared me for the people that we have met since I read it. That would include Sarah Palin, and her husband.

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Dec 29, 2012 Ruth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Even though McPhee makes it clear, again and again, that Alaska is not a place to go on a whim, I found myself imagining doing just that. One of my very favorite books, and one I have read several times for the sheer pleasure of it. McPhee is a writer who is endlessly interested in his subject, whatever it may be, and this is one hell of a subject!

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Jul 07, 2009 Scott rated it 3 of 5 stars

I've been fascinated by Alaska for a few years, and reading this heightened that interest. What kept this at the 3-star level for me was the length of part 3. I actually just skimmed the last 30 pages or so. McPhee's writing was very good, but the continuous line of individuals he presented to the reader finally got to me. I would be interested to see a "30 years later" type of look, as well, as the full impact of the pipeline and the tourism industry so prevalent today.

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Jul 12, 2012 Cathy Simonds rated it 4 of 5 stars

McPhee wrote this in the 1970's - lots of changes going on in Alaska at the time: piplelines, Native landd act, government land takeovers, search for a site for a new capital (didn't fly). McPhee spent much time with Alaskans - native born and new comers. His writing is beautiful, wonderfully descriptive. The land and people all come alive.

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Jul 07, 2010 Nancy Allen added it

John McPhee is known for literary nonfiction. This book-length essay explores the way of thinking of Alaska, the independence of the people who moved to Alaska and especially focuses on those who live in the wilderness of the North, "the Country." There are side-trips through Alaskan history that include the effort to move the capital city, and these also introduce compelling characters and many intriguing facts that made me keep going through this book, despite no real plot! Wonderfully written...more

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About John McPhee

John McPhee was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and was educated at Princeton University and Cambridge University. His writing career began at Time magazine and led to his long association with the New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer since 1965. The same year he published his first book, A Sense of Where You Are, with FSG, and soon followed with The Headmaster (1966), Oranges (1967), The P...more

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