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A review by darwin8u
Assembling California by John McPhee
3.0
“He said, “Americans look upon water as an inexhaustible resource. It’s not, if you’re mining it. Arizona is mining groundwater.”
― John McPhee, Assembling California
This year I've been reading the separate segments of McPhee's Pulitzer Prize winning 1998 opus [b:Annals of the Former World|78|Annals of the Former World|John McPhee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924382s/78.jpg|88676], but skipped (for now) [b:Rising from the Plains|83|Rising from the Plains|John McPhee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350425564s/83.jpg|1391039] because I was going to be driving with my brother from San Francisco to Mesa, AZ. We were going to hang in Berkeley and hit Yosemite, Sequoia, etc., on our trip South and East and I figured it was a perfect time to read 'Assembling California'.
Like all McPhee writing, 'Assembling California 'is an amazing conglomeration of good writing, great characters, and interesting technical facts. However, unlike the earlier books in this series ( [b:Basin and Range|19894|Basin and Range|John McPhee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388755256s/19894.jpg|1665814], [b:In Suspect Terrain|54972|In Suspect Terrain|John McPhee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332449042s/54972.jpg|75439]) it just doesn't set up as nicely. I'm not sure if it had more to do with the messiness of California's geology, the limits of Eldridge Moores as an engaging character, or if McPhee had just grown a bit tired of his own Great I-80 Geology Project. He is engaging, but there just wasn't as much sparkle or heat as with Karen Kleinspehn, Kenneth Deffeyes, or Anita Harris. A solid McPhee and a good addition to the series, just not the strongest piece. I hope that 'Rising from the Plains' works out a bit better.
― John McPhee, Assembling California
This year I've been reading the separate segments of McPhee's Pulitzer Prize winning 1998 opus [b:Annals of the Former World|78|Annals of the Former World|John McPhee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924382s/78.jpg|88676], but skipped (for now) [b:Rising from the Plains|83|Rising from the Plains|John McPhee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350425564s/83.jpg|1391039] because I was going to be driving with my brother from San Francisco to Mesa, AZ. We were going to hang in Berkeley and hit Yosemite, Sequoia, etc., on our trip South and East and I figured it was a perfect time to read 'Assembling California'.
Like all McPhee writing, 'Assembling California 'is an amazing conglomeration of good writing, great characters, and interesting technical facts. However, unlike the earlier books in this series ( [b:Basin and Range|19894|Basin and Range|John McPhee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388755256s/19894.jpg|1665814], [b:In Suspect Terrain|54972|In Suspect Terrain|John McPhee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332449042s/54972.jpg|75439]) it just doesn't set up as nicely. I'm not sure if it had more to do with the messiness of California's geology, the limits of Eldridge Moores as an engaging character, or if McPhee had just grown a bit tired of his own Great I-80 Geology Project. He is engaging, but there just wasn't as much sparkle or heat as with Karen Kleinspehn, Kenneth Deffeyes, or Anita Harris. A solid McPhee and a good addition to the series, just not the strongest piece. I hope that 'Rising from the Plains' works out a bit better.