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Pulitzer Prize winner John McPhee plunges into the wild frontiers and frigid climates of Alaska, exploring the varied regions and people of this northern US state. With an introduction by Robert Macfarlane.
About the author
John McPhee has published more than thirty books and much of his work first appeared in the pages of The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer since 1963. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, winning in 1999 for Annals of the Former World. McPhee teaches nonfiction writing at Princeton University.
Summary
In this astutely observed travel account, Pulitzer Prize-winner John McPhee plunges into the wild frontiers and frigid climate of Alaska - exploring the varied regions and people of this Northern US state. Travelling by foot and canoe, McPhee moves from urban landscape to the remote Alaskan bush, drawing a rich and comprehensive history of a vast land and its inhabitants.
With his keen eye and poetic sensibility leading the way, we paddle with McPhee through the salmon-filled waters of the Brooks Range Rivers, meet a young chief of the Athapaskan tribe, and become well-acquainted with the habits of the barren-ground grizzly bear. We encounter settlers and discover the deeply held dreams that drive them to survive in one of the most remote regions on earth. McPhee is a master storyteller and a curious adventurer and
Coming into the Country is his journey into the wild.
Foreword
'John McPhee is celebrated in America and all but unknown in this country. The volume I love most is Coming into the Country, an account of Alaska and the Alaskans. His genius is that he can write about anything.' - Robert MacFarlane
