John McPhee Patch

"An "album quilt," an artful assortment of nonfiction writings by John McPhee that have not previously appeared in any book" --
A collection of essays from a staff writer at The New Yorker offer his thoughts on sports, including fishing, football, golf and lacrosse as well as a visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania and an encounter with Joan Baez.
A collection of essays offers the author's thoughts on sports, including fishing, football, golf, and lacrosse, as well as a visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania and an encounter with Joan Baez.
An “album quilt,” an artful assortment of nonfiction writings by John McPhee that have not previously appeared in any bookThe Patch is the seventh collection of essays by the nonfiction master, all published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. It is divided into two parts. Part 1, “The Sporting Scene,” consists of pieces on fishing, football, golf, and lacrosse—from fly casting for chain pickerel in fall in New Hampshire to walking the linksland of St. Andrews at an Open Championship. Part 2, called “An Album Quilt,” is a montage of fragments of varying length from pieces done across the years that have never appeared in book form—occasional pieces, memorial pieces, reflections, reminiscences, and short items in various magazines including The New Yorker. They range from a visit to the Hershey chocolate factory to encounters with Oscar Hammerstein, Joan Baez, and Mount Denali. Emphatically, the author’s purpose was not merely to preserve things but to choose passages that might entertain contemporary readers. Starting with 250,000 words, he gradually threw out 75 percent of them, and randomly assembled the remaining fragments into “an album quilt.” Among other things, The Patch is a covert memoir.