Who Would Like This Book:
If you love surprising deep dives into everyday things, "Oranges" is for you! John McPhee peels back the story of the humble orange, exploring its journey from ancient Asia to American breakfast tables. Readers who appreciate literary nonfiction, quirky history, and food science will find this both nourishing and fun. The book is rich with quirky facts, Florida color, industry secrets, and memorable personalities. Even if you’ve never thought twice about orange juice, McPhee’s engaging, sometimes playful prose might have you seeing (and tasting) oranges in a whole new way.
Who May Not Like This Book:
This book may not be everyone's cup of tea - or glass of juice. Folks looking for a modern, up-to-date account of the citrus industry might find the 1967 content dated, especially regarding technology and social perspectives. If you’re uninterested in meticulous detail about agriculture or prefer narrative-driven stories over fact-packed explorations, this might feel a bit too much like an encyclopedia entry at times.
About:
Oranges by John McPhee is a lively and entertaining exploration of the citrus fruit industry, particularly focusing on oranges. McPhee's writing style is described as 'first person', informative, and engaging, taking readers on a journey through the history, cultivation, and cultural significance of oranges. The book covers various aspects such as the production process, technological advancements, and the impact of the orange industry on Florida, providing a comprehensive look at the world of oranges.
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From The Publisher:
A classic of reportage, Oranges was first conceived as a short magazine article about oranges and orange juice, but the author kept encountering so much irresistible information that he eventually found that he had in fact written a book. It contains sketches of orange growers, orange botanists, orange pickers, orange packers, early settlers on Florida's Indian River, the first orange barons, modern concentrate makers, and a fascinating profile of Ben Hill Griffin of Frostproof, Florida who may be the last of the individual orange barons. McPhee's astonishing book has an almost narrative progression, is immensely readable, and is frequently amusing. Louis XIV hung tapestries of oranges in the halls of Versailles, because oranges and orange trees were the symbols of his nature and his reign. This book, in a sense, is a tapestry of oranges, too-with elements in it that range from the great orangeries of European monarchs to a custom of people in the modern Caribbean who split oranges and clean floors with them, one half in each hand.
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1 comment(s)
The title doesn’t lie - a book about oranges. Interesting factually, but also historically as the book was written in the heyday of orange juice concentrate (ie, those cylindrical cans of frozen concentrated juice that was a staple in everyone’s freezer).
What can you read after
Oranges?
About the Author:
John McPhee was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and was educated at Princeton University and Cambridge University. His writing career began at Time magazine and led to his long association with The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer since 1965. Also in 1965, he published his first book, A Sense of Where You Are, with Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and in the years since, he has written over 30 books, including Oranges (1967), Coming into the Country (1977), The Control of Nature (1989), The Founding Fish (2002), Uncommon Carriers (2007), and Silk Parachute (2011). Encounters with the Archdruid (1972) and The Curve of Binding Energy (1974) were nominated for National Book Awards in the category of science. McPhee received the Award in Literature from the Academy of Arts and Letters in 1977. In 1999, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Annals of the Former World. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
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