Mr. Doggett's Suggested Summer Reading for Students
In the Introduction to the Second
John McPhee Reader, David Remnick (now McPhee's editor at The New Yorker)
notes that many people find McPhee's subjects too obscure & are put
off by his decision to remain "distant from politics, preferring to make
something of very little." I don't doubt that this is true,
but I feel sorry for people who miss out on reading his terrific work because
they feel that way. Over nearly 40 years of writing non-fiction essays
for The New Yorker, McPhee has crafted a body of great literature by immersing
himself in a variety of American subcultures and explicating them for the
general public. In Pine Barrens, by discussing everything from growing
cranberries
to the natural history of fires
to the legend of the Jersey
Devil and introducing us to a cast of fascinating characters along
the way, McPhee accomplishes what only the best writers can, he brings
alive an entire world that might otherwise have remained unknown to us.
Those of you who think that New Jersey consists of only highways and chemical
plants, should find the book especially interesting.
(Reviewed:)
Grade: (A)
Websites:
John McPhee Links:
-John McPhee Home Page
-Featured
Author: John McPhee ( With News and Reviews From the Archives of The
New York Times)
-Bibliography
-Creative
Nonfiction: Writers: John McPhee
-EXCERPT: FIRST CHAPTER of The Founding Fish by John McPhee
-AUDIO INTERVIEW: John McPhee's Fish Tales (Dick Gordon, 11/22/2002, The Connection)
-ESSAY: McPhee on Catch-and-Release (Les Palmer, Alaska Outdoor Journal)
-Essay
on McPhee & New Journalism (Sharon Bass)
-"Twenty
Questions: A Conversation with John McPhee" (Creative Nonfiction, Michael
Pearson)
-BOOK
SITE: Annals of the Former World by John McPhee (FSB Associates)
-EXCERPT:
Chapter One of Annals of the Former World
-AUDIO:
McPhee on Science Friday (NPR)
-ARTICLE:
McPhee wins Pulitzer for Annals (PrincetonUniversity)
-John
A. McPhee '53 Web Shrine
-ESSAY:
PRINCETON'S SMALL WORLD OF BIG WRITERS (GLENN COLLINS, NY Times Book
Review)
-ARCHIVES: "john mcphee" (Find Articles)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish by John McPhee (Craig Nova, Washington Post)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (James Swan, National Review)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (William Moody, CS Monitor)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (Bill Pride, The Denver Post)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (Curtis Edmonds, Bookreporter)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (Stephen Bodio, Minneapolis Star Tribune)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (Michael David Sims, PopMatters)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (BRUCE TIERNEY, Book Page)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (Rob Buchanan, Outside Online)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (MICHAEL S. ROSENWALD, Boston Globe)
-REVIEW: of The Founding Fish (Keith C. Heidorn, Living Gently Quarterly)
-REVIEW:
of Annals of the Former World by John McPhee Rocks of Age: In his travels
along Interstate 80, John McPhee has seen the history of the earth. (DAVID
QUAMMEN, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Basin and Range by John McPhee (Paul Zweig, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of BASIN AND RANGE. by John McPhee (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of In Suspect Terrain (Michiko Karutani, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of IN SUSPECT TERRAIN. By John McPhee (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt ,
NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of Rising from the Plains (Herbert Mitgang, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of Rising From the Plains (Evan S. Connell, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Assembling California (David Rains Wallace, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Annals of the Former World Eloquence fills a tome of geological
weight (Rob Laymon for The Philadelphia Inquirer)
-REVIEW:
Like Water From a Stone: The secret of this fervently worshiped nonfiction
stylist: neurotically withhold. (Sarah Kerr, Slate)
-REVIEW:
of Annals of the Former World (Ellen Scott, your Guide for Ecotourism,
About.com)
-
REVIEW:
of Annals of the Former World (MICHAEL SIMS, BookPage)
-REVIEW
: of John McPhee, Annals of the Former World (Mike Lepore
for crimsonbird.com)
-REVIEW:
Seeing the USA with John McPhee: Deep Structure and Travels in the
Fourth Dimension (Theodore C. Humphrey, California State University,
Pomona)
-REVIEW:
40,000 Words About Rocks: Road cuts and the people who look at them
(Ron Hogan, Crosswinds)
-REVIEW:
The Stone Diaries: A pioneer of narrative nonfiction takes on
his biggest topic: the history of the ground we stand on (Sabine Hrechdakian,
Boston Phoenix)
-REVIEW
of Basin and Range (NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW
of Coming into the Country (NY Review of Books)
Book-related and General Links:
-Creative
Nonfiction: Writers: John McPhee
-Essay
on McPhee & New Journalism (Sharon Bass)
-"Twenty
Questions: A Conversation with John McPhee" (Creative Nonfiction, Michael
Pearson)
-REVIEW
of The Ransom of Russian Art (NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW
of Basin and Range (NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW
of Coming into the Country (NY Review of Books)
-New
Jersey Pinelands Commission
-Pinelands
Information
-Piney Power:
Presents An Insider's Tour of the New Jersey Pine Barrens
-The
Jersey Devil of the Pine Barrens (Anthony Perticaro, Strange Magazine)
-Plants
of the Pine Barrens
-Vertebrates
of the Pine Barrens by Robert W Hastings
-Paddling
the Barrens (Canoe & Kayak Magazine)
-The
New Jersey Pine Barrens
Other recommended books by John McPhee:
-A
Sense of Where You Are : A Profile of William Warren Bradley
-Levels
of the Game (1969) (read
Orrin's review, Grade: A)
-Encounters
with the Archdruid (1971) (read
Orrin's review, Grade: B+)
-The
Deltoid Pumpkin Seed
-The
Curve of Binding Energy
-The
Survival of the Bark Canoe (1975)
-Coming
into the Country (1977)
-Annals
of the Former World (1998) (read
Orrin's review, Grade: B+)
Comments:
Orrin welcomes reader comments on his reviews.
Add yours here.
