Oranges

While many readers are familiar with John McPhee's masterful pieces on a large scale (the geological history of North America, or the nature of Alaska), McPhee is equally remarkable when he considers the seemingly inconsequential. Oranges was conceived as a short magazine piece, but thanks to his unparalleled investigative skills, became a slim, fact-filled book. As McPhee chronicles orange farmers struggling with frost and horticulturists' new breeds of citrus, oranges come to seem a microcosm of man's relationship with nature.

Like Flemish miniaturists who reveal the essence of humankind within the confines of a tiny frame, McPhee once again demonstrates that the smallest topic is replete with history, significance, and consequence.

• The Pine Barrens
• The Control of Nature
• The Survival of the Bark Canoe
• Annals of the Former World
• Encounters with the Archdruid: Narratives About a Conservationist and Three of His Natural Enemies
• Uncommon Carriers
• Levels of the Game
• The Founding Fish
• Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process
• The Patch