Irons in the Fire

What could be more presumptuous than attempting to sit in judgment of writings of John McPhee? Essayist of the American scene for the New Yorker magazine, McPhee is a lodestone for people unheralded, forgotten or simply unknown. When you read his accounts of their lives and work, his use of language, image, empathy will instill them in your memory. There, they will be cherished, later re-examined to be reflected on, or valued, or best of all, emulated. All his subjects are worthy role examples, but that is only a part of the value of reading McPhee's accounts of their lives. His scope is vast, bringing together personalities, history - often at some depth, and other related information. All this seems to pale in the light of his ability form sentences that lead you into novel worlds, elevate your interest in something unexpected, or simply describe an otherwise mundane event.This book starts with a shock - cattle rustling isn't a practice limited to Hollywood's false sense of history. Cattle duffing remains an active practice in Nevada. Branding, the symbol of ownership, is still subject to the "running iron" in shifting title without accompanying cash exchange. Law enforcement is not applied by gun-toting marshals, but by a Brand Inspector marking tallies in the palm of his hand. McPhee escorts one across vast stretches of the Basin and climbs thousands of feet over the Range to "take attendance" of cattle like a country schoolmarm. There's little limit to how far he must travel - tracking moving cattle may lead him to California or southern Utah. McPhee's descriptions of the country are more than matched by his relation of successful apprehensions of rustlers. His account brings the action into sharp focus and you are beside the Inspector staking out a mountain hideaway.McPhee raises the term "investigative journalist" to fresh levels of excellence. Other topics in this collection include word processing for a blind author, understanding gravel as evidence, exotic automobiles and the travels and travails of a glacial boulder - a special one. His guidance through these topics is sure, keeping your interest at a peak as he conveys a wealth of information and character description. As with any McPhee book, this one remains timeless. It's worth your attention - and retention.

Once again, McPhee has revealed the fascinating hidden sides to a number of subjects which at first appear ordinary. He is The Master at popularizing Earth Science, and shows why in the most entertaining manner. Others more talented than I, and who make a living reviewing books, have already reviewed and praised this book. I have a question of the publisher, though. At the front of the book, below the card-catalog data, is the following statement: "A NOTE ON THE BINDING The die on the front of the binding -Lazy J Over Running M Combined- was created by Ellie Wyeth Fox for the author". Where is this die (cattle brand?) to be found? I looked all over my copy of this book and could not find it anywhere.

As always, McPhee's work is a zenith of style. But, in this collection, his shortest piece is his most fascinating. For, who is this mysterious "Rinard at Manheim," whose knowledge and wit are at least equal to the author's?

Mr. McPhee again turns his discerning eye on the work people do, what it entails, what it means to the worker, and (usually), how the author feels about it. Then he expands the context to outline its national, geophysical, geopolitical, economical, or other relevant influence, always in human terms. THIS MAN CAN WRITE! Here, he ranges from current-day cattle rustling in Nevada, to computers for the blind, to the content of a virgin forest in New Jersey (!), to the mortal hazards faced by high-tech soil-analyzing crimesolvers, to the sheer scope and methods of used tire disposal, to a short piece on an exotic auto auction in Pennsylvania, to the likely origins and the repair of Plymouth Rock. All, thanks to the author, are wonderful to read. But then, so is everything he has published.