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tintinintibet's review against another edition
4.0
McPhee’s New Yorker essays are short enough that you might start to believe that you can get away with “second screening” his books. Halfway through I had to restart to correct that mistake, and janky became alpenglow. Next time I find myself giving McPhee 1 or 2 stars I’ll consider user error first.
holly_keimig's review against another edition
3.0
"Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment or a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrane. In the rock itself are the essential clues to the scenes in which the rock began to form...Unfortunately, highway departments tend to obscure such scenes. They scatter seed wherever they think it will grow. They "hair everything over"--as geologists around the country will typically complain." (p. 23--Annals of the Former World)
It was amazing to drive through the Basin and Range province while I was reading this. As always, McPhee gives great insights into the geology and his book reads like a friend talking about their travels. :) I recommend!
It was amazing to drive through the Basin and Range province while I was reading this. As always, McPhee gives great insights into the geology and his book reads like a friend talking about their travels. :) I recommend!
heidihaverkamp's review against another edition
4.0
Geology, hair-raising tails of frontier life - mostly to do with a single and singular family, and Grand Teton National Park. More geology than I was interested in, but still glad to go deeper into the state of Wyoming after traveling and hiking there this past fall.
unladylike's review against another edition
2.0
In [b:How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor: Critical Thinking in the Age of Bias, Contested Truth, and Disinformation|52696290|How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor Critical Thinking in the Age of Bias, Contested Truth, and Disinformation|Thomas C. Foster|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579613304l/52696290._SY75_.jpg|68989434], [a:Thomas C. Foster|11550|Thomas C. Foster|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1249516675p2/11550.jpg] heaps praise on John McPhee to the max. He asks "Is there anyone who writes nonfiction better than John McPhee? I think not." (paraphrased)
I had never heard of either of these older white men, but I wasn't entirely surprised that one would be riding the dick of another and elevating both of their states of authoritative supremacy in the broad genre of nonfiction.
I've read hundreds of works of nonfiction in the past two years, many of which were the authors' debuts. With McPhee - and in particular his 4-part geological survey called [b:Annals of the Former World|78|Annals of the Former World|John McPhee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386924382l/78._SY75_.jpg|88676] - hyped up so much, and having won a major award for this work, I had fairly high expectations. Instead, I found the majority of Basin and Range to be dry as the dust archeologists brush from fossils within the earth.
I had never heard of either of these older white men, but I wasn't entirely surprised that one would be riding the dick of another and elevating both of their states of authoritative supremacy in the broad genre of nonfiction.
I've read hundreds of works of nonfiction in the past two years, many of which were the authors' debuts. With McPhee - and in particular his 4-part geological survey called [b:Annals of the Former World|78|Annals of the Former World|John McPhee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386924382l/78._SY75_.jpg|88676] - hyped up so much, and having won a major award for this work, I had fairly high expectations. Instead, I found the majority of Basin and Range to be dry as the dust archeologists brush from fossils within the earth.
placoderm_fish's review against another edition
3.0
Not the most explanatory book on geology but an interesting travelogue with meditations on tectonics and deep time. I recommend this for anyone traveling the southwest basin and range region.
eljaspero's review against another edition
3.0
Is this a travelogue? A geography textbook? A rambling discourse of unexplained technical terms? I really have no idea what I just read, and McPhee is no dang help at figuring that out.