katallison: (Default)
[personal profile] katallison
[crossposted to MetaFilter] As part of its coverage of the hurricane disaster, the New Yorker has posted on-line John McPhee's excellent and lengthy 1987 essay on the Atchafalaya basin and the Army Corps of Engineers' long-running efforts to control the Mississippi. The piece is available in print in McPhee's book The Control of Nature, but I'm delighted that TNY decided to make it available electronically--it's fascinating, and rereading it reminds me of what a stellar writer McPhee is.

It's a great read for anyone, but especially those of us who need a break from the ongoing disaster news and are interested in learning more about the larger-scale historical background of political/economic/engineering decisions that led us to try to thwart Nature in the Mississippi delta.

(no subject)

Date: 2005-09-04 04:01 pm (UTC)
auroramama: (Default)
From: [personal profile] auroramama
I was blown away. I love McPhee. It's so damned clear...

Profile

katallison: (Default)
katallison

November 2009

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags