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

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

★★★★☆ 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 )