A review by noahbalazs
The Control of Nature by John McPhee

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.