The Peter Matthiessen Reader

by Jenkins McKay and Peter Matthiessen

"Our greatest modern nature writer in the lyrical tradition." -- The New York Times Book Review "Matthiessen is a great travel companion. . . . His knowledge of plants, animals and people is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375702725
• ISBN13: 9780375702723
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A wonderful collection by the modern Thoreau

This is a book any nature lover should pick up. I'd heard Matthiessen's name but sadly hadn't read any of his work until now, and what a great collection this is to start off with. Matthiessen writes about the world around us vividly, lyrically and eloquently, without getting TOO florid and new-agey as some nature writers tend to do. He travels the world in this collection spanning his career, from shark observations to Himalayan treks to African safaris to New England fishing villages, always honest and compulsively readable. His description of a pack of wild dogs hunting zebra in Africa ranks with the best passages about wildlife I've ever read, and will floor you.