The Second John McPhee Reader

John McPhee Reader #2

by John McPhee, David Remnick (Introduction)

This second volume of The John McPhee Reader includes material from his eleven books published since 1975, including Coming into the Country, Looking for a Ship, The Control of Nature , and the four books on geology that comprise Annals of the Former World .

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Science, Audiobook, Environment, Writing, Nature

393 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 1996

About the author

John Angus McPhee is an American writer. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the fourth occasion in 1999 for Annals of the Former World (a collection of five books, including two of his previous Pulitzer finalists). In 2008, he received the George Polk Career Award for his "indelible mark on American journalism during his nearly half-century career". Since 1974, McPhee has been the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University.

Reviews

[ALLEN]

With his detailed, on-site interviews, careful research and pinpoint writing, John McPhee can make the most mundane topic enchanting. If you don't believe me, consider what he did with flood control on the Red and Atchafalaya rivers in Louisiana, the latter a distributary of the Mississippi, in one of the chapters here. (It's pretty scary, too: without browbeating us, McPhee makes us realize that those who would "control nature" are in danger of having nature unexpectedly seize that control right back.) If you want to witness some really fine writing, and along the way learn about things you never realized were so important, pick up THE SECOND JOHN McPHEE READER. If anything, it's better than the first!

[Jess]

McPhee is one of my favorite authors -- especially for non-fiction -- and I have been enjoying his work for years in The New Yorker. This Reader consists of a collection of excerpts from certain of his essays and book-length works, and it is hit and miss. Some of the excerpts, such as the ones from Coming Into the Country, about Alaska, and La Place de la Concorde, about the Swiss Army (and, by extension, Switzerland), are by turns fascinating and incredible. Others, such as Giving Good Weight, while not particularly captivating as regards their storyline, are nonetheless vintage McPhee and are enjoyable if for no other reason than his inimitable style. But the excerpts taken from the geology books are just harder for me to get enthused about. I don't know what it is in particular about these excerpts, but they just don't come alive like so much of his work. I'm disinclined to chalk it up to subject matter, since he has revealed the interesting inner workings of many other apparently mundane subjects. But something's missing for these, it seems. If you're interested in reading McPhee at length elsewhere, I recommend Uncommon Carriers, Control of Nature, or The Headmaster.

[Stephanie]

How did I get this far along in my life without discovering John McPhee? Just in time for a locked-down reading binge!

[John]

Serviceable reading, though this is just part one of the second reader. I think the geology extracts would have been more comprehensible with illustrations, since he uses a lot of technical language--but the parts about greenmarkets in NYC, the Swiss army, and the haute cuisine chef at work were entertaining and informative both. The extracts from COMING INTO THE COUNTRY, about Alaska and its natives and settlers, had some high spots too. McPhee's writing comes off as well in audio as it does on the page.

Finished listening to part two of the second reader 6/1/16. Again, generally absorbing, particularly when he's talking about people. The one dud, to me, was the extract about the Loma Prieta earthquake--which was a long recitation of fragments of individual experiences....might be better on the page, but in audio it grew tedious after the first couple of dozen.

[༺Kiki༻]

★★★★☆ From Coming into the Country ( 1977 )
                Giving Good Weight ( 1979 )
★★★★☆ From Good Weight
★★★★☆ From Brigade De Cuisine
★★★★☆ From Basin and Range ( 1981 )
★★★★☆ From In Suspect Terrain ( 1983 )
★★★★☆ From La Place de la Concorde Suisse ( 1984 )
                Table of Contents ( 1985 )
★★★★★ Under the Snow
★★★★★ From Heirs of General Practice
★★★★★ From North of the C.P. Line
★★★★★ From Rising from the Plains ( 1986 )
                The Control of Nature ( 1989 )
★★★★☆ From Los Angeles Against the Mountains
★★★★★ From Looking for a Ship ( 1990 )
★★★★★ From Assembling California ( 1993 )
★★★★☆ From The Ransom of Russian Art ( 1994 )

[Kathy]

Quotable:

So impressed are the Swiss with the accomplishments of Swiss in the United States that the entire top floor of the Musee des Suisses a I'Etranger, outside Geneva, is given over to the subject. There is a lovely framed photograph of the basketball team of Berne High School, in Indiana. There are snapshots, newspaper pages, and so forth from Switzerland County, Indiana...

[Oliver Hong]

It does not get more boring and more dull than this. Do you want to read 13 pages of descriptions of rock? From someone who isn’t a geologist? You are going to love this book. There are good stories and really bad ones. The good ones aren’t worth sitting through the bad ones for. I dropped it after 100 pages.

I did not enjoy reading this. It makes me dislike reading.

[Joni Taylor]

One of my favorite all time authors of non fiction. Everything he writes about, even subjects I wouldn't consider reading about and didn't know I might be interested in, are enjoyable to discover through his words!

[Warren Senders]

Nothing in the world is like reading John McPhee. One of the most extraordinary writers in the world. Highly recommended.

[Spencer]

nice selection of mcphee's writing

[Ray Good]

Interesting and entertaining writing style but I don't find it compelling. May try a full novel before I give up on reading additional works by McPhee.

[John Machata]

John McPhee is a magical wordsmith. The scope of his interests is astounding.

[Milt]

Pre-read all but last segment Ransom of Russian Art of which 30 pages now read

[B David Chamberlain]

All around a joy to read. Sparks inquisitiveness and awe toward the world around us.

[Joy]

I enjoyed the portions pertaining to geology.

[Scott]

Love his writing. Such clever turns of phrase. “He buttoned down us unbuttoned button down collar”

Will be reading more for sure

[Daniel]

John McPhee is a Pulitzer prize-winning writer for the New Yorker who has published 30 books or so on a wide array of topics. All of his work is nonfiction. His attention to detail is superb. The Second John McPhee reader includes selections from books about Alaska, geology, New York City farmers' markets, the Swiss army, general practice medecine, art collecting, the merchant marine, and more. Great introduction by David Remnick, editor of the New York and a former student of McPhee at Princeton, puts the selections in context.

[Dan Secor]

John McPhee is a recent find for me. He has been writing a column for the New Yorker for over forty years, and has numerous books based on his adventures published from these columns.

This book contains snippets from many of his books written in the later years. From his adventures in Alaska, to the job he took after burning out (working with farmers selling produce in the open air markets in Manhattan), McPhee can make anything sound exciting. He is truly a magnificent writer and this is a good primer for introducing one to his world.

[Jim]

McPhee is one of my favorite nonfiction writers, partly for his topical excursions and partly for his beautiful language. This collection culls selections from many of his books. He surely is the only person I could think of that could write something interesting about being a green grocer. I wasn't wild about the geography stuff. Hanging with the Swiss army was cool. A good introduction, especially to older work, if you consider trying him.

[Zoorockgirl]

Loved the stuff about people interacting with landscape, or other people, found some of the geology heavy going. Liked his sense of humour.

Finished this as part of the Read Harder book challenge, as "recommended to me", someone game me this when I graduated from uni, and I had never even opened it. I'm not big on non-fiction, and liked it more than I thought I would.

[Jim]

"Any time I read John McPhee I come away feeling informed, entertained and possibly a better writer. Among the memorable stories in this collection dating from

[Kelsey]

I love hiking, canoeing, and just hanging out with McPhee. There's not much page turning narrative to be had here, or ever, by McPhee, but the guy can take me to places any time.

[Ruth]

THis guy is a great observer and writer.

[Jimmy]

Selections from stories about the Swiss Army, farmers markets in New York, and the geology of New Jersey. Reading McPhee is always educational.

[Taylor]

Maybe it's the unappealing cover or maybe it's the writing style, but this book didn't appeal to me. I really wanted to like it but just couldn't get there. I quit after 3 chapters/stories.

[Dawn Stricker]

Always an entertaining read. John McPhee could write about anything and make it interesting. I had read several of the stories features here but it was fun to read an excerpt and remember the story.

[Andrew]

Want to read more of The Control of Nature.

[Jeremiah]

A pleasant collection of charming passages.