book data
364 ratings, 4.14 average rating, 47 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
by Books On Tape
binding
Audio Cassette
isbn
5553671167
(isbn13: 9785553671167)
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 457)
Read in July, 2007
Great book about the soul of environmentalism. The author perfectly captures the equally valid perspectives of David Brower, former head of the Sierra Club, and the miners, developers and dam-builders to which he stands opposed. Best of all, these perspectives are shown through in-person encounters and the arguments take place in the very settings over which they will fight their battles.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
1 comment
This was a solid John McPhee book. The main character was very interesting (former head of the Sierra Club), and the way he dealt with some people who were less environmentally minded was facinating. For me, the confluence of Geologist, Sierra Club President, and Water in the Southwest was particularly relevant, making it particularly enjoyable.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
Amazing to see how far behind we are in the 2000's or how far ahead some were in the 1960's. This book chronicles David Brower's, executive director of the Sierra Club for seventeen years, interactions with three men that would be seen as enemies of the environmental movement, a mineral engineer working with the mining industry, a resort developer and a builder of large dams.
This from David Brower, executive director of the Sierra Club for seventeen years, speaking about our lust to grow ou...more
This from David Brower, executive director of the Sierra Club for seventeen years, speaking about our lust to grow ou...more
Like this review?
yes
4 comments
Read in January, 1999
Perhaps the most important book ever written with equal representation of "environmental concerns" versus "progress". The drop dead best chapter is where Floyd Dominy, the Nation's dam builder, rides the Colorado river with David Brower, one of the environmental gods.
McPhee has an uncanny ability to stay in the middle, period. When he tells the Dominy story the reader knows the importance of this man and what he has done to help the west through building of dams a...more
McPhee has an uncanny ability to stay in the middle, period. When he tells the Dominy story the reader knows the importance of this man and what he has done to help the west through building of dams a...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2008
Like a lot of McPhee books I've read, this one reads like a collection of articles, connected in a surprisingly loose way considering that one man (David Brower, formerly of the Sierra Club) is the subject of all three chapters. But McPhee is not going out of his way to make arguments or draw conclusions. In this case it may well be the perfect structure, since it suggests a snapshot of a moment in time, acknowledging that conservation is a battle--political, ecological, semantic--that people ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2002
Most especially 5 stars for the essay on the richly ironic and powerful encounter between David Brower and Floyd Dominy through the Grand Canyon.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I give this book as gifts to people. Of his books, this had the most meaning to me and they are all core thoughts about nature.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
I found the interaction of four different type of folks and attitudes most interesting as relates to the environment.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
I think I like Uncommon Carriers even more than I thought I did....McPhee's writing style has evolved quite a bit in the last 30 years, and I was anticipating previous writings to be written in the same style, and to be enough to carry me through books that only kinda interested me.
So, there's three parts, A Mountain part, an Island part and the Grand Canyon part. The Mountain part was pretty interesting, the Island part had its moments, but mostly wasn't too interesting, and the Grand Cany...more
So, there's three parts, A Mountain part, an Island part and the Grand Canyon part. The Mountain part was pretty interesting, the Island part had its moments, but mostly wasn't too interesting, and the Grand Cany...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
The premise of this book is interesting. McPhee arranges for David Brower (of Sierra Club fame) to go on several trips through controversial wilderness areas with developers and miners. The most noteworthy section might be Brower's raft trip through the Grand Canyon with Floyd Dominy. It's an interesting book because it provides an insight into personalities that are merely names in another book, but the basic premise-- that conservationists are not archdruid hippies and developers not strictl...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 1985
This is a classic and the one McPhee book I truly enjoyed. After he got into his geology period exploring plate tectonics and continental rifts, I drifted away. At any rate, in this long essay, he takes a founder of the Sierra Club and a government exploratory geologist, the first a great believer in protecting natural resources, the second a great believer in exploiting them for humanity's benefit, and has them travel together through the mountains and debate their positions. It is all the more...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Almost 40 years old but feels like it was written yesterday. Unlike his more recent work (uncommon carriers) I feel like he was compelled to write this book based on his aquaintince with the people profiled, rather than picking a topic and then going out and trying to find appropriately salty characters to people it with. He takes the topic of preservation v. conservation and turns it round and round making you rethink your stance on a subject that is just as important today but much less actua...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2008
recommends it for:
environmentalists
'Pine Barrens' is one of my favorite books and this is another excellent work by this author. Even though it was written years ago, many of the themes are still relevant today.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2008
I love this book partly because of the subject matter -- hanging out with former Sierra Club executive director David Brower (the Archdruid) and long conversations with folks with opposing views (miner, developer, rancher) in dealings with The Mountains, An Island, A River.
But just as much, I love it because of John McPhee's ability to turn science/non-ficture/people into comfortable prose that flies past and makes you smarter for spending time with it.
But just as much, I love it because of John McPhee's ability to turn science/non-ficture/people into comfortable prose that flies past and makes you smarter for spending time with it.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
I wrote a paper on this book. Here's the intro (I'm cringing):
After reading a number of books by academics, John McPhee’s Encounters With the Archdruid provided a wonderful chance to get a take on environmental issues documented by a journalist. As a journalist myself, I was refreshed to find his book did not stray from what a reader would expect to find in a magazine or newspaper: balanced reporting, objective portrayals and plenty of riveting dialogue.
After reading a number of books by academics, John McPhee’s Encounters With the Archdruid provided a wonderful chance to get a take on environmental issues documented by a journalist. As a journalist myself, I was refreshed to find his book did not stray from what a reader would expect to find in a magazine or newspaper: balanced reporting, objective portrayals and plenty of riveting dialogue.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read for school, so that automatically dampened my enjoyment! But a very interesting book- the author arranges meetings between David Brower, an environmental champion, outspoken preservationist, and long-time first president of the Sierra Club, and three other men who have seemingly opposing values.
Interesting to see different perspectives on land use- there are so many ways people value land and nature. Lovely descriptive writing style.
Interesting to see different perspectives on land use- there are so many ways people value land and nature. Lovely descriptive writing style.
Don't read this book, because then you will want to marry John McPhee, and you can't marry John McPhee because I am going to marry him.
To pull off a non-fictional account with actual facts and actual learning that also has better and more biting drama than %90 of fiction books is astounding.
McPhee is an absolute master of angling and pacing that bring any story he approaches to its fullest possible potential.
To pull off a non-fictional account with actual facts and actual learning that also has better and more biting drama than %90 of fiction books is astounding.
McPhee is an absolute master of angling and pacing that bring any story he approaches to its fullest possible potential.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
John McPhee took a rafting trip down the Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon, just before the dam was installed. On the raft were the man responsible for engineering the dam, and David Brower (the Archdruid) - founder of the Sierra Club. This is a fascinating dialogue on the environment and conservation.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2005
Cool book about Dave Brower, ex-president of the Sierra Club and "Archdruid", as he hangs out with builders of dams, extractors of metals, and developers of islands. A rare environmental book that exposits both sides of the coin. McPhee is an insightful writer on nature and his prose never disappoints.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
The Archdruid being a snide appelation a mega-developer gave David Brower, founder of the Sierra Club. For decades he was a one-man environmental movement. McPhee, a longtime contributor to the New Yorker, takes the reader into the vortices of three of Brower's major battles.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
to-read
(on 61 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 17 people's shelves)
non-fiction (on 16 people's shelves)
nonfiction (on 10 people's shelves)
nature (on 5 people's shelves)
own (on 5 people's shelves)
science (on 3 people's shelves)
essays (on 2 people's shelves)
science-and-nature (on 2 people's shelves)
history (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
currently-reading (on 17 people's shelves)
non-fiction (on 16 people's shelves)
nonfiction (on 10 people's shelves)
nature (on 5 people's shelves)
own (on 5 people's shelves)
science (on 3 people's shelves)
essays (on 2 people's shelves)
science-and-nature (on 2 people's shelves)
history (on 2 people's shelves)
More shelves...
groups with this book
