Book Review: Coming into the Country-John McPhee

Journalist John McPhee has been a writer all his life. He teaches writing at Princeton University in a town where he grew up. Maybe the academic atmosphere contributed to his life goal, or, maybe not. He writes in a journalistic style: he covers the landscape as he finds it, describing everything there, and somethings that used to be there, and the folks that he finds there. He writes personally, expressing his opinions without injecting his own sentiments about his subjects: just the facts, please. Coming into the Country is about the State of Alaska as he found it in 1976/77. Can you remember those years? If you read this book, those years will seep back into your memory, and while you might not have been in the far north at the time, you will gain an appreciation for those years as did Alaskans and those who wanted to be Alaskan. He covers a lot of ground in the book: Alaska is a big place as we know, and as we find out. He wanted to get familiar with those who live there, those who came there(most of those he finds), and how they live and adjust to the 6 month winters with temperatures -50 degreesF at times. He discussed history-the gold rush in th Yukon at the turn of the 20th century. He talks about the oil discovery and the building of the oil pipeline from the North Slope to Prince William Sound on the south coast. He also gives a voice to the native Americans who populate much of the landscape and who received a payment from the Federal Government to compensate for the takeover of their tribal grounds. Additionally, he talks of state politics and the in-state rivalries that exist between Anchorage and Juneau, the pan handle city of the south east that nobody seems to love. His description of the lives of the modern gold miners includes little known details about their actual lives. Of course, his story was written before reality TV brought those persona.ities to the small screen and streaming services. I found his stories about the bush pilots fascinating: how these pilots survive is beyond me. The everyday risks they take is enough to make your hair go straight. I recommend this journalist's effort as a well reported story of modern Alaska.