The other five essays are as follows: "Irons in the Fire" starts out promisingly enough as a behind the scenes look at modern-day brand inspectors in Nevada, complete with rustlers. Unfortunately, unless you have some particular interest in cattle, digressions and its 50+ pages of length may render it rather numbing after a while. The second piece, "Release," is an entirely mawkish-and thankfully brief-portrait of an author who uses voice-recognition software on his computer to assist his writing. It might have been remarkable fifteen years ago, but we've all seen umpteen of these stories on the local news since then. He tries to milk some humor out of it via the computer's awkward pronunciation, but its just not funny. "In Virgin Forest," is another brief entry, this time about a bit of primordial deciduous forest just across the river from Manhattan in New Jersey. It's kind of neat to discover how it came to survive in pristine form in such an unlikely place, but there's not a whole lot more to it. "Rinhard at Manheim" is perhaps the oddest piece-it's basically the transcribed ramblings of a friend of McPhee's who's a scout at a "exotic car" auction, as he describes the merits and deficiencies of various luxury sports cars. There doesn't seem to be much point-or even humor-to it. The final essay, on the history, repair, and geological origins of Plymouth Rock is rather tedious on the whole, although geologists, stonemasons or history buffs might find it more worthwhile.
This book starts with a shock - cattle rustling isn't a practice limited to Hollywood's false sense of history. Cattle duffing remains an active practice in Nevada. Branding, the symbol of ownership, is still subject to the "running iron" in shifting title without accompanying cash exchange. Law enforcement is not applied by gun-toting marshals, but by a Brand Inspector marking tallies in the palm of his hand. McPhee escorts one across vast stretches of the Basin and climbs thousands of feet over the Range to "take attendance" of cattle like a country schoolmarm. There's little limit to how far he must travel - tracking moving cattle may lead him to California or southern Utah. McPhee's descriptions of the country are more than matched by his relation of successful apprehensions of rustlers. His account brings the action into sharp focus and you are beside the Inspector staking out a mountain hideaway.
McPhee raises the term "investigative journalist" to fresh levels of excellence. Other topics in this collection include word processing for a blind author, understanding gravel as evidence, exotic automobiles and the travels and travails of a glacial boulder - a special one. His guidance through these topics is sure, keeping your interest at a peak as he conveys a wealth of information and character description. As with any McPhee book, this one remains timeless. It's worth your attention - and retention.
Others more talented than I, and who make a living reviewing books, have already reviewed and praised this book. I have a question of the publisher, though. At the front of the book, below the card-catalog data, is the following statement: "A NOTE ON THE BINDING The die on the front of the binding -Lazy J Over Running M Combined- was created by Ellie Wyeth Fox for the author". Where is this die (cattle brand?) to be found? I looked all over my copy of this book and could not find it anywhere.