Summary of John McPhee's Draft No. 4

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 I wrote three pieces that became a book called Encounters with the Archdruid. I had been writing profiles for more than a decade at Time magazine and then at The New Yorker, and I was desperate to escalate.

#2 I decided to do a double profile, through a process similar to the one I described above. I would meet myself coming the other way. I would not be able to do that without a copy of the CBS tape.

#3 The choice of subject for a piece of writing is never a simple one. You may take a month, or ten months, or several years to turn one idea into a piece of writing, and yet you still only choose one subject over all other concurrent possibilities.

#4 The environmental movement was in its early stages in the 1960s, and I decided that it would be the subject of ABC/D. I wanted to interview Floyd Dominy, the United States Commissioner of Reclamation. He built very big Western dams, and he was a very tough Western guy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822538146

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Insights on John McPhee's Draft No. 4

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I wrote three pieces that became a book called Encounters with the Archdruid. I had been writing profiles for more than a decade at Time magazine and then at The New Yorker, and I was desperate to escalate.

#2

I decided to do a double profile, through a process similar to the one I described above. I would meet myself coming the other way. I would not be able to do that without a copy of the CBS tape.

#3

The choice of subject for a piece of writing is never a simple one. You may take a month, or ten months, or several years to turn one idea into a piece of writing, and yet you still only choose one subject over all other concurrent possibilities.

#4

The environmental movement was in its early stages in the 1960s, and I decided that it would be the subject of ABC/D. I wanted to interview Floyd Dominy, the United States Commissioner of Reclamation. He built very big Western dams, and he was a very tough Western guy.

#5

The author would meet outspoken characters, and would write about them in a series of six profiles. Readers were not shy with suggestions, and the suggestions were often good but also closer to the passions of the