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John McPhee Chronicles Human Attempts to Control Nature.

Writer John McPhee. He's a classic example of a "writer's writer," one whose style is endlessly studied and mimicked, and whose effortlessness in moving between subjects as diverse as Alaskan geology, oranges, and birch-bark canoes is the envy of every freelancer. He's worked at The New Yorker magazine since the late 60s and is one of its most popular contributors. His best-known books include A Sense of Where You Are, about Rhodes Scholar and basketball star Bill Bradley, Coming into the Country, about Alaska, and Pieces of the Frame," about curator Thomas Hoving and the world of high art. Over the last several years, McPhee's magazine pieces have focused on the earth sciences. His new book is titled The Control of Nature.

22:35

Other segments from the episode on August 11, 1989

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, August 11, 1989: Interview with John McPhee; Commentary on The Museum of Jurassic Technology; Interview with Lowell Ganz; Commentary on the "self."

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