Coming into the Country

Rating:
Summary: The Portable Alaska
Review: McPhee lets the reader feel just how huge Alaska is-almost wider than the mind. From geological to political history Coming into the Country shows how it got that way. I picked this up at the airport in Fairbanks, and kept it in my pack to savor after returning to the wilds of Philadelphia. McPhee's sense of adventure and storytelling, his close interaction with the people and the land, make this the Portable Alaska.

Rating:
Summary: Literary suprise and Alaskan bush.
Review: McPhee opens his three part book with "The Encircled River," which doesn't describe a circular river or something simple like that, but rather is a very clever literary trick to illustrate a backpacking trip into the remote Brooks Range. The rest of the book is just as effective. McPhee's portrait of Alaska is highly literate and engrossing

Rating:
Summary: Alaska, an enigmatic state(of mind)
Review: Mcphee's Coming into the Country is one of those rare books which provides the reader with incredible insight as well as being a darn good read. If you want to learn about the people, government, attitudes, and other aspects which are prevalent in Alaska, then I would strongly suggest you read this book. The author really did his research by staying in Alaska for a couple of years, and it really paid off. So, if you're thinking about moving to Alaska, pondering about taking a fishing or hunting expedition up North, or you just would like to know some more about the vast and enigmatic 49th state, then Coming into the Country is the book for you. It is surely one of the most interesting books which I have read. Period!

Rating:
Summary: Elegant factual writing
Review: This is an elegant work of factual writing -- not fancy or pretentious, but intricate, charming and strong. John McPhee is a master.