Leni Zumas's writing crackles. Her books are sharp, bleak, funny, and possibly dangerous. When her collection of short stories, Farewell Navigator,...
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This may not be John McPhee's best-known work, but it is certainly on par with his best. A series of encounters between David Brower, the man who radicalized the Sierra Club into a political force, and notable 'captains of industry' in the form of a mining engineer, a real estate developer and a dam builder. Each of these men are remarkable, each loves the earth and its bounty, and each has a very different view of man's place and role. Mr. McPhee is an exquisitely skilled observer, drawing keen descriptions of his subjects as they hike together through the wilderness or race down a raging river in rubber boats. Their discussions, debates and (sometime) shouting matches all inform a deeply philosophical debate about our place in the natural world. This book is 40 years old in 2011, and it foretells much of the present day debate over environmental and conservation in the US. I would put it squarely in the must-read category for understanding the environmental movement.
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Encounters with the Archdruid by John Mcphee
Peter M Saucerman, April 20, 2011
This may not be John McPhee's best-known work, but it is certainly on par with his best. A series of encounters between David Brower, the man who radicalized the Sierra Club into a political force, and notable 'captains of industry' in the form of a mining engineer, a real estate developer and a dam builder. Each of these men are remarkable, each loves the earth and its bounty, and each has a very different view of man's place and role. Mr. McPhee is an exquisitely skilled observer, drawing keen descriptions of his subjects as they hike together through the wilderness or race down a raging river in rubber boats. Their discussions, debates and (sometime) shouting matches all inform a deeply philosophical debate about our place in the natural world. This book is 40 years old in 2011, and it foretells much of the present day debate over environmental and conservation in the US. I would put it squarely in the must-read category for understanding the environmental movement.