a second for McPhee

Subject: a second for McPhee
From: Matt Hicks <matt -at- UNIDATA -dot- UCAR -dot- EDU>
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 1994 09:37:06 -0700

On Thu, 29 Dec 1994, Larry Kunz ((919) 254-6395) wrote:

> It makes a lot of sense to me, too, and it gives me a chance to plump
> for a writer who IMO is the master of the craft: John McPhee. Read
> any of his *New Yorker* pieces (most of which were subsequently pub-
> lished as books) and you'll see what I mean. I'm not especially know-
> ledgeable about, or even interested in, most of McPhee's subjects, but
> I always find him informative and engaging.

Yes, yes, yes! Highly recommended are _The Control of Nature_ (might be
_Controlling Nature_) and _Encounters with the Archdruid_. _Control_
contains four articles that first appeared in the _New Yorker_; topics
are: flood control in the Mississippi River valley/Achafalaya (sp?)
basin, debris flow control methods in the mountains around LA, the rescue
of an Icelandic fishing village from a volcanic eruption, and I've either
forgotten the last one or there are only three articles :-). GREAT
writing. Informative and witty. Fluidly crafted analogies.

_Encounters_ is a book written in the late 60s/very early 70s. McPhee
travelled around the country with Sierra Club founder David Brower as
Brower met with an exploration geologist, the man who oversaw the
creation of Lake Powell, and the guy who developed Marble Head. Again,
there might be another encounter that I'm leaving out. This is a great
book no matter which side of the environmental fence you stand on. A very
even presentation of often wildly different points of view (surprise!).
Annoyed me to find I could have any sympathy towards people whose actions
I oppose vehemently. Anyway, a good read and again brilliantly crafted.

One big "no" vote for the more recent _Looking for a Ship_. Found this
one on a bargain-book table and snapped it up. Very disappointing. It
seems McPhee needed to get a book out of the experience (a stint with the
US Merchant Marines) and there really wasn't one there. Not a complete
waste of time since there's always some delight in reading McPhee, but
definitely not one of his shining moments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Matt Hicks, Tech. Writer, Unidata * I may not agree with what you
Boulder, CO, (303)497-8676, ******* say, but I'll defend to the
matt -at- unidata -dot- ucar -dot- edu ************* death my right to mock you.


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