John McPhee (1) (1931–)
Author of Annals of the Former World
For other authors named John McPhee, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
McPhee was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and educated at Princeton University and Cambridge University. His writing career began at Time magazine and led to his long association with the New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer since 1965. That same year he published his first book, A Sense of show more Where You Are, with FSG, and soon followed with The Headmaster (1966), Oranges (1967), The Pine Barrens (1968), A Roomful of Hovings and Other Profiles (collection, 1969), The Crofter and the Laird (1969), Levels of the Game (1970), Encounters with the Archdruid (1972), The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed (1973), The Curve of Binding Energy (1974), Pieces of the Frame (collection, 1975), and The Survival of the Bark Canoe (1975). Both Encounters with the Archdruid and The Curve of Binding Energy were nominated for National Book Awards in the category of science Since 1977, the year in which McPhee received the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and The John McPhee Reader and the bestselling Coming into the Country appeared in print, Farrar, Straus and Giroux has published Giving Good Weight (collection, 1979), Basin and Range (1981), In Suspect Terrain (1983), La Place de la Concorde Suisse (1984), Table of Contents (collection, 1985), Rising from the Plains (1986), Heirs of General Practice (in a paperback edition, 1986), The Control of Nature (1989), Looking for a Ship (1990), Assembling California (1993), The Ransom of Russian Art (1994), The Second John McPhee Reader (1996), and Irons in the Fire (1997). Annals of the Former World was published in 1998 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1999. McPhee has taught at Princeton as Ferris Professor since 1975. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: John Angus McPhee (photo courtesy of Princeton University)
Series
Works by John McPhee
The Princeton Anthology of Writing: Favorite Pieces by the Ferris/McGraw Writers at Princeton University. (2001) 13 copies
The Princeton Reader: Contemporary Essays by Writers and Journalists at Princeton University (2010) 4 copies
Personal history: Checkpoints, fact-checkers do it a tick at a time (New Yorker, 9 & 16/02/2009) 1 copy
Miinihydro [article] 1 copy
Ice Pond [article] 1 copy
Open Man {article} 1 copy
Under the Snow {article} 1 copy
THE FAIR OF SAN GENNARO. 1 copy
Associated Works
Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: Work from 1970 to the Present (2007) — Contributor — 179 copies
Fire Fighters: Stories of Survival from the Front Lines of Firefighting (2002) — Contributor — 12 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- McPhee, John Angus
- Birthdate
- 1931-03-08
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Princeton, New Jersey, USA
- Places of residence
- Princeton, New Jersey, USA
- Education
- Princeton University (BA|1953)
University of Cambridge - Occupations
- journalist
essayist
professor - Relationships
- McPhee, Jenny (daughter)
McPhee, Martha (daughter)
McPhee, Sarah (daughter)
McPhee, Laura (daughter) - Organizations
- American Academy of Arts and Letters (Literature ∙ 1988)
Time
The New Yorker (staff writer)
Princeton University - Awards and honors
- American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (Literature, 1977)
Pulitzer Prize (1999)
George Polk Career Award (2008)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1993)
Wallace Stegner Award (2011)
National Book Critics Circle Award (2017) (show all 7)
Fellow, Geological Society of America
Members
Reviews
Encounters with the Archdruid by John McPhee
I loved this, I really did. A neutral narrator and a protagonist that you end up rooting for and disagreeing with at every turn, this narrative fiction is absolutely wonderful. Highly recommended for any and everyone. Encounters with the Archdruid probably has something for you.
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.… (more)
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.… (more)
Excellent book on problems McFee had with getting to write
Learning from a Lifetime
Tell and show - McPhee's experience on display on every page. Just the Burton and Eisenhower anecdotes are worth the entry fee.
Tell and show - McPhee's experience on display on every page. Just the Burton and Eisenhower anecdotes are worth the entry fee.
Lists
Hidden Classics (1)
Books to Read (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 60
- Also by
- 19
- Members
- 18,414
- Popularity
- #1,190
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 302
- ISBNs
- 287
- Languages
- 8
- Favorited
- 130
