HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

The Pine Barrens by John McPhee
Loading...

The Pine Barrens (original 1968; edition 1978)

by John McPhee (Author), James Graves (Illustrator)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
8212026,466 (4.08)39
A portrait of an unexpected wilderness and its unknown people. Originally published in 1968, The Pine Barrens is an early example of Pulitzer Prize winning McPhee's acclaimed literary non-fiction style. This edition has a new foreword by Iain Sinclair.
Member:kristinmm
Title:The Pine Barrens
Authors:John McPhee (Author)
Other authors:James Graves (Illustrator)
Info:Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1978), 157 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:nonfiction, biographies and memoirs, travel, environment, history

Work Information

The Pine Barrens by John McPhee (1968)

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 39 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 20 (next | show all)
It was interesting to learn a little about this region of New Jersey that I previously didn't know existed. There were some interesting tidbits about the regional language and local superstitions.

I did feel that the people and their way of life were romanticized a bit… perhaps the author's way of balancing the more negative portrayals of Pineys.

The book did make me want to move further out and live off the land, lol.

There was some profanity, including God's name misused.

A note on the special edition with photos: The photos were not great. They were in black and white, and the lighting honestly sucked. Half the time, I couldn't really tell what I was looking at. The pages were way too large for the content, and so the book was awkward to hold while reading. ( )
  RachelRachelRachel | Nov 21, 2023 |
What a wonderful book. Thoughful description of a part of New Jersey I never knew existed (or rather I had heard mentioned but had no idea what it was). Very reminiscent of "The Spirit of the Mountains" in its treatment of a land and people outside the mainstream. And like "Maryland: A Middle Temperment," I wish there was an update (this book dates to 1968) to know what has happened to the land... ( )
  wahoo8895 | Nov 20, 2022 |
McPhee explores the natural history and culture of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens in this book developed from articles originally published in The New Yorker. Although the Pine Barrens is not geographically in Appalachia, its local culture seems very familiar to this southern Appalachian native. I was drawn to this book when I learned through family history research that a many-times great-uncle and cousins operated the Batsto Furnace from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. Batsto gets a couple page mention in this book.

The New York Times revisited the Pine Barrens in a 1985 article, speaking to the son of McPhee’s local guide, Fred Brown. In the twenty years between McPhee’s book and the NYT article, tourists and industry discovered the Pine Barrens. Did the attention from McPhee’s book hasten the inevitable “wheels of progress”? ( )
  cbl_tn | Oct 22, 2022 |
Published in 1967. John McPhee visits, interviews and documents the people and disappearing culture of the Pine Barrens that cover a large portion of southern New Jersey. There, people made a living from the land, doing seasonal work; farming, making charcoal, iron, hunting and other endeavors. Some worked in nearby towns and cities.

The vast area is a natural wonderland adjacent to some of the most populated areas on the Eastern Seaboard. The area supported blueberry and cranberry crops. Pickers were bussed in from Philadelphia in some cases. The barrens are susceptible to fire. “It is because of fire that pines are dominant in the Pine Barrens.” “Eighty-four different kinds of birds breed in the Pine Barrens, not to mention the ones that make stopovers there.” “The beavers are big and surprisingly fierce.”

Development has been attempted. “Over the years, more than a million people have bought or otherwise acquired lots in the Pine Barrens on which no houses have ever been built.” A “Supersonic Jetport” where supersonic jets would land “ninety minutes after leaving Paris” was envisioned around the time McPhee was researching the book. It seems funny now.

The legend of the Jersey Devil originated in the pines.

This is John McPhee’s typical mix of interesting people well observed, intensive research and telling detail combined to make an informative and entertaining book.

As a footnote, the Pinelands National Reserve was established in 1978 to protect and preserve the ecology of 1.1 million acres of the barrens. This book likely contributed to that effort. ( )
  Hagelstein | Apr 28, 2022 |
The Pine Barrens of New Jersey have been a wild area since colonial times. While New Jersey as most people see it from the highways seems totally developed the Pine Barrens remain wild. John McPhee used his suburb writing skill to tell about this unique land and the people who inhabit it. The "Pineys" have a reputation not unlike many backwoods folks of being inbred and backward. McPhee found them to be hospitable but shy. Even if I never get to see and explore the Pine Barrens I am glad I found this book. ( )
  MMc009 | Jan 30, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 20 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
John McPheeprimary authorall editionscalculated
Curtsinger, BillPhotographermain authorsome editionsconfirmed
Graves, JamesIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
For Pryde
and for her father
Charles Mitchell Brown
First words
From the fire tower on Bear Swamp Hill, in Washington Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, the view usually extends about twelve miles.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
First published in: The New Yorker (1967)
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (3)

A portrait of an unexpected wilderness and its unknown people. Originally published in 1968, The Pine Barrens is an early example of Pulitzer Prize winning McPhee's acclaimed literary non-fiction style. This edition has a new foreword by Iain Sinclair.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.08)
0.5
1
1.5
2 6
2.5 3
3 19
3.5 9
4 60
4.5 7
5 49

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,200,001 books! | Top bar: Always visible