The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed

Rating:
Summary: Another great McPhee work
Review: I am an unabashed fan of John McPhee, and believe him to be one of the todays's best non-fiction writers. _The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed_ does nothing but reinforce my impression.

I knew very little about 'lighter-than-air' history or technology before reading _Pumpkin Seed_, but McPhee assumes no prior knowledge. Indeed, one of the things I like best about McPhee is his ability to explain topics of a complex nature to a lay audience.

The story's 'characters' are exquisitely developed, and their interactions with each other are sometimes tragic, often hillarious. A number of them would make fascinating subjects for biographies in their own right.

If you have any interest in avaiation history, or just enjoy reading a well-crafted non-fiction work, I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Wingless Wonder
Review: McPhee tells the tale of the Aereon, a wingless airplane. It's a story about a dream, really, and a bunch of dreamers aching to bring back the big-airship ideal. There's Monroe the missionary, Miller the fellow religious man, Fitzpatrick the designer who ends up pumping gas for a living, Kukon the master model builder, Olcott the cool test pilot. It's an amazing blend of history and character and scenes. It's also maybe the best pure writing I've seen by McPhee. In particular, the scene introducing Fitzpatrick is brilliant. The book's wind-down, centering on the last test flight of the Aereon 26, is worthy of study for the art of building suspense.

Rating:
Summary: the worst, most pointless work in the history of the world
Review: The total lack of interest generated by this book is inexcusable for such a "celebrated" author. This virtual wading pool of long, boring language was worthless and not worth the money i paid for it.