McPhee’s masterpiece about Alaska is the 13th of his books that I’ve read as part of my project to read his entire oeuvre, and every book I read confirms my impression that he is our most brilliant non-fiction writer. Whether he’s written about individuals like Bill Bradley or the Headmaster of Deerfield Academy or about places or things, his ability to find the universal and the fascinating in the specific and particular and then translate that into engaging and vivid prose is amazing.  When I think of McPhee, I think of that wonderful human trait, curiosity and this book is a prime example of his insatiable curiosity about people, places, and how they interact to compose lives.

McPhee, a lifelong canoer and camper, spent quite a bit of time in Alaska and presented his impressions in three sections in this book. The first describes his canoe trip down the Kobuk River in far northwest Alaska where he accompanied Federal and state officials scouting the territory for parkland settings. Grizzly bear encounters, an endless supply of fish, empty, empty space set the stage for this mostly edenic trip down a distant and untouched river.

The second section describes his travels mostly by plane and helicopter with the committee charged with finding a new capitol for the state.  With widespread dissatisfaction with Juneau and the newly settled agreements with the Federal government and the native population, the question arose as to where to relocate the capitol somewhere in the interior.  Now, 50 years later, the capitol remains in Juneau!

The final section is the one that I loved most as he describes the people, the land, and the beauty and challenges of life in and around Eagle, Alaska.  Eagle, the first American community after the Yukon River passes from Canada into the U.S. was founded in the 1890’s and has been hanging on since then.  Today’s population of 86 is probably a low point but in the 1970’s McPhee painted a picture of a town rich with colorful individuals and conflict–the church goers vs the drinkers, the whites who lived in the town vs the native Hungwitchin Indians who lived in the village, and those committed to trapping, fishing and hunting vs those looking for more modern ways.

McPhee uses his standard technique of finding fascinating and off-beat individuals and shaping his narrative around them.  In this case, much of the writing is about the Gelvin family who can fix anything and fly their plane and their heavy equipment around the region mining and living off the land. Typically, Ed Gelvin and his wife Ginny grew up in rural Pennsylvania but followed their dreams to Alaska where their son, Stanley was born.  Their story, like many others that McPhee tells, is one of independence, self-reliance, and a simple, hard life far from urban capitalist pressures.

I loved this book for its continuously renewed anecdotal stories, its introduction to this special part of the U.S., and for McPhee’s wonderful writing.  it’s the third time I’ve read it, and I hope I have at least one more opportunity to return to it.  On to McPhee’s next book!