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shirisandler's review against another edition
2.0
I wish I could rate this chapter by chapter: Atchafalaya - 2 stars, Iceland - 4 stars, LA - 2.5?.
ajchurch's review against another edition
2.0
I read this for class but some parts weren't just straight facts and I enjoyed the inside to the surrounding culture and people of the areas he talked about
noahbalazs's review against another edition
3.0
After reading The Pine Barrens and The Founding Fish, I was ready for more McPhee. This book was a slog. Each of the three sections (on The Mississippi River, Iceland Volcanoes, and the cumbling San Gabriels into neighboring L.A.) was twice as long as they needed to be and I lost interest at just about the midpoint of each. As ever, McPhee is a meticulous researcher and interviewer. Perhaps I'll have better luck with Coming Into the Country or Uncommon Carriers.
acousticdefacto's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
3.0
pearseanderson's review against another edition
4.0
I read around a third, 89 pages, for Soils and Society with Amanda Schmidt. It was good but not John McPhee's best work (at least, the debris flow section). That doesn't mean it wasn't very revealing or a quality read from my man McPhee. He's 87 and I hope he lives forever but doesn't become a god-king like Mr. Fantastic if that one Ultimates arc. Anyway, an interesting piece of geologic longform journalism. He uses his classic techniques!
mssarahmorgan's review against another edition
3.0
He's an excellent writer, but I found the Louisiana section pretty slow. But the Iceland bit gets 5 stars - gripping! Thrilling! Who knew you could (kinda) stop lava??