Irons in the Fire

by John McPhee

In this collection John McPhee once agains proves himself as a master observer of all arenas of life as well a powerful and important writer.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Science, History, Geology, Nature, Audiobook

216 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1997

About the author

John Angus McPhee is an American writer. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the fourth occasion in 1999 for Annals of the Former World (a collection of five books, including two of his previous Pulitzer finalists). In 2008, he received the George Polk Career Award for his "indelible mark on American journalism during his nearly half-century career". Since 1974, McPhee has been the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University.

Reviews

[Darwin8u · Rating 4 out of 5]

"McPhee has a marvelous knack for finding the universal in the particular."
- Publishers Weekly



A nice collection of essays that originally appeared in the New Yorker (most of McPhee's writings can be traced back to the New Yorker):

1. Irons in the Fire (December 20, 1993) - About cattle rustling in Nevada.
2. Release (September 28, 1987) - About Robert Russell, a blind professor at Franklin and Marshall College,in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
3. In Virgin Forest (July 6, 1987) - About Hutcheson Memorial Forest in Franklin Township, New Jersey.
4. The Gravel Page (January 29, 1996) - About geological forensics.
5. Duty of Care (Jun 28, 1993) - About recycling tires.
6. Rinard at Manheim (Dec 4, 1989) - About the Manheim Exotic Auction in Pennsylvania
7. Travels of the Rock (Feb 26, 1990) - About Plymouth Rock and its re-mortaring.

There are several FANTASTIC pieces and several pieces of mortar holding it together. Not his best collection, but I have yet to regret reading a McPhee book and this is no exception. Essays to not miss: Irons in the Fire, In Virgin Forest, The Gravel Page, Duty of Care, Travels of the Rock. I think my favorite of the whole book were 'Irons in the Fire' and 'The Gravel Page'. Amazing pieces.

Irons in the Fire explores the ranchers, the Brand Inspectors, the rustlers, and the cattle land of Nevada. These are cowboys. These are the hard-core libertarian Mormons that produced Cliven Bundy and his ilk. These are the mountains and deserts where Utah, Nevada, and Arizona all meet. This essays was poignant for me because one of the characters/rustlers/ropers/breaker of horses in the essay (Wayne Lee) was a direct descendent of John D. Lee. John D. Lee was an adopted son of Brigham Young who was later shot for his direct role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

John D. Lee was also the husband of my 5th Great-Grandmother (Abigail Schaeffer Woolsey Lee), and my 5th Great-Grandfather's (Joseph Henry Woolsey) two sisters (Rachel Woolsey and Agatha Woolsey). No direct blood, but a helluva lot of history and stories. If you want to figure out why this section of Nevada and Utah produce such fundamentally hard people, McPhee's essay is as good a place as any to start.

The Gravel Page' was originally three linked essays in the New Yorker: The Gravel Page, Balloons of War, and Death of an Agent. This is where McPhee is amazing. You put McPhee in a room or a car with the right person, start having him talk to them about Geology, Ecology, Arts & Crafts, or Sports and something magical happens with the narrative. These are the stories McPhee was born to write.

The Gravel Page presents three different facets of forensic geology. The first essay focuses on the investigation of A. Coors murder using geology. The second essays explores how early scientists from the Geological Survey were able to establish where the balloons that Japan was drifting over America came from. The final story details how forensic geologists at the FBI were able to track down where a DEA agent was killed and buried in Mexico using geology. His love of the subject and the characters AND place enables McPhee to weave a story that transports the reader around the world, while having on McPhee's every sentence.

Anyway, seek them out. Look them up. Buy them. Read them. Read them again.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know those profiles they have in papers and magazines where they ask the subject what he always has in his refrigerator or what people would be surprised to know about him? Eventually they get around to asking what three people he would like to have dinner with. Well, no one has asked me that, but I think right after Diane Lane I would invite John McPhee.

McPhee has an insatiable, eclectic curiosity. He collects people and tells stories, all with awe and humor. In Irons in the Fire, I learned about modern day cattle rustling and branding, a brilliant blind professor and his talking typewriter, virgin forests, exotic car auctions and the real history of Plymouth Rock. The best essay though is The Gravel Page which channels Sherlock Holmes into a series of vignettes: how geologists figured out who killed Adolph Coors II and exactly where, and how DEA agents in Mexico were killed and exactly where. (McPhee's description of Coors and his daughter riding their horses past his murderer, sitting and watching in a yellow car, was almost unfairly moving). But, in that same essay -spoiler alert- we learn about the Japanese efforts in WWII to send balloons filled with incendiary devices eastward to America. We learn the science of it, sure, including where the sand used in the balloons came from in Japan, and what actual geek scientist in Japan was working on the project. But McPhee also tells us there were six deaths in America. On an idyllic Sunday afternoon in the American northwest, a minister and his wife took five Sunday School children out for a picnic on the lake. The minister was out in the water and looked back as one of the children called out that he found a balloon. In a flash, the minister's wife and the five children were killed. Think of that. Nations, half a planet away from each other are at war. A scientist is asked to achieve the seemingly impossible. And he does. He manages at random to kill six total innocents and break the heart of one good man. And the American government hushes it up so as not to scare the citizens.

Waiter! Let's have another bottle of wine. Mr. McPhee isn't done telling stories.

[Eric_W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Al Lehman In a land where a common saying is that no one eats his own beef, the Nevada brand inspector becomes crucial to civilization. Without one, There'd be a lot of dead bodies." Rustling in the 1990's is still an occupational hazard where ranches are measured in tens of thousands of acres. John McPhee, a favorite writer of mine, has recently published a new collection of essays entitled, Irons in the Fire. The title essay is his investigation of brands and their history. The brand inspector's job is to keep everyone honest and the ranchers accept this and approve. The inspector also has to be part cop, part private investigator, part, Indian tracker, and have a whole lot of knowledge and instinct for the people and the country in order to recognize hundreds of brands and how they might be changed.

In another essay, McPhee writes about the virgin forest, particularly a spot near Brunswick New Jersey where the suburbs grow so fast that animals are often trapped between motels. The land had originally belonged to the Van Liew family who had acquired it in 1701 and farmed all but sixty-five acres they set aside. In the 1950s they consulted a sawyer and discovered that the value of some of the white oaks that dated to the 17th century was "expressible in ducats." Making their desire to sell public, all sorts of organizations came out of the woodwork :-)) to prevent the felling of these trees. Not enough money was raised until the Carpenters' Union bought the land and gave it to Rutgers University in 1955. The restriction on Rutgers were that only a small path could be maintained along one edge. They could not enter or change anything else on the sixty-five acres – just study it from a distance. There are only a few other areas of virgin forest left in the United States – one in Illinois along the Wabash. The Hutcheson Memorial Forest owned by Rutgers is perhaps the most famous. It has supported the research for hundreds of advanced degrees including thirty-six Ph.D.s. "So many articles, papers, theses, and other research publications have come out of Hutcheson Forest that – as the old saw goes – countless trees have been cleared elsewhere just in order to print them."

[Tulara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love reading John McPhee's books of essays. Now, don't freak out - his essays are so interesting and revealing that you learn a lot in the process of enjoying a good read. The essay on the Brand Inspector in Nevada was brilliant - I didn't know they still did that, but when calves are worth thousands of dollars and they are in a wide-open deserted area, they tend to disappear - the Inspector that McPhee rode with has 3700 brands memorized and can see them on the cows. The story about tire disposal will have you thinking about the absurdity of what to do with tires - you must put them somewhere, but they don't authorize any one special place to put them. The fact that 34 million tires are in a valley in California was shocking. I didn't know that tires "float" - meaning if you put them in a landfill, they will rise to the top eventually - they do not stay buried. One man puts them in a quarry filled with water and covers them with sand and concrete. Millions of tires.
McPhee writes as a journalist, but uses the tools of fiction writing to make the subject interesting. My favorite book - he wrote a whole book on Oranges. You think, what could he say about Oranges? You'll see.
Excellent author.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of essays by John McPhee published in 1997, but which originally appeared in The New Yorker, where I probably read all of them at one time or another during the last twenty years. Irons in the Fire is clearly a part of the author's geology period. The pieces admired the most were "The Gravel Page" about identifying the source of gravels and soils that were involved in murder cases investigated by FBI geologists and "Travels of the Rock," which could easily have been called "Travails of the Rock," about Plymouth Rock and its deterioration over the centuries -- as well as speculations about where the rock originated. (Was it really Africa? )

Other pieces were the long title essay about cattle rustling in present-day Nevada; "In Virgin Forest," about a small stand of virgin timber in New Jersey; "Release," about computer tools (way back when) for the blind; "Rinard at Manheim," about rare car auctions; and "Duty of Care," a beguiling essay on what to do with all those millions of discarded tires.

McPhee is always fun to read, whether as short essays or long ones. Too bad there aren't more writers like him around today. Who else do you know that can make rocks fascinating?

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does one need a reason to read a book by John McPhee?  Given this book, and his many other books, it would appear that the existence of such a book is sufficient to read it, and this book is a good case study as to why that is the place.  I have read with pleasure John McPhee write about a wide variety of subjects ranging from those who work in the logistics industry to the geology of the continental United States to those who seek to control nature to the complex and rather Nathanish existence of the carp and still other books to this particular collection of intriguing and thought-provoking essays.  This book is certainly not the most coherent of essays--all of the essays included are about real people in real situations but they are varied and distinct otherwise in all kinds of ways, from length to specific subject matter.  But that scarcely matters.  If you have read much of the author's work, you have found a great deal to appreciate, and will likely find in here a great deal of writing to appreciate as well.  That was certainly the case for me, it must be admitted.

This particular collection of essays is about 200 short pages and contains seven essays.  The first essay is called "Irons In The Fire," and it gives the story of Nevada cattle rustling through the point of view of a brand inspector (and cattleman himself) who the author found out about from a friend.  The best kinds of friends are those who give you amazing writing projects, as I am sure McPhee would agree by his immediate response to hearing about the brand inspector's existence--he flew to Nevada and traveled with the inspector for a few weeks.  After that comes "Release," an account of the author's conversations with a blind but very interesting man.  Then follows a short essay "In Virgin Forest," which demonstrates the author's strong interest in ecology.  The longest essay in the book comes next, "The Gravel Page," which examines the complex use of gravel and other military and police forensics in areas as diverse as the history of World War II and the contemporary drug war.  "The Duty Of Care" looks at the responsibility and difficulties of dealing with scrapped tires.  "Rinard at Manheim" discusses the auction of exotic cars that often fail to meet their owner's reserve prices.  Finally, "Travels Of The Rock" looks at the complex history of the travels and travails of Plymouth Rock.

The worth of this particular project can be indicated by a discussion of the author's skill in writing, and nowhere is the more evident than in the masterful way that he ends his essays.  Two examples in this particular book stand out.  In "The Travels Of The Rock," the author spends about thirty pages discussing the geology and history of Plymouth Rock and its fractures and attempts at reconstructing it and preserving it, and the story ends with a comical response from a young man whose girlfriend wanted to see the rock despite his lack of interest:  "It's a rock!  Nothing ever happens to it," the line with which this book ends, the author previously having indicated just how wrongheaded this view is.  Another essay, "Release," ends with a discussion of the way that George Bernard Shaw spelled fish, "ghoti," with a voice to text machine spelling the imaginary word "ghoti" as "fish."  When one is dealing with such a master in the style of writing engaging essays about life and creation, why not enjoy a collection of essays no matter how miscellaneous it may be?

[༺Kiki༻ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irons in the Fire is a collection of essays originally published in The New Yorker magazine. The essay "The Gravel Page" was originally published in three parts:
1. The Gravel Page
2. Balloons of War
3. Death of an Agent

★★★★★ Irons in the Fire — Dec 20, 1993 P.96
★★★★☆ Release — Sep 28, 1987 P.28
★★★★☆ In Virgin Forest — Jul 06, 1987 P.21
★★★★★ The Gravel Page — Jan 29, 1996 P.44
★★★★★ Duty of Care — Jun 28, 1993 P.72
★★★★☆ Rinard at Manheim — Dec 04, 1989 P.150
★★★★☆ Travels of the Rock — Feb 26, 1990 P.108

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✱ No Stone Unturned: The Story of Necrosearch International Investigators
✱ All that Remains: A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The titular story was quite interesting: a look at cattle stealing in Nevada in the late 20th century. John McPhee’s talent is always to interview people and draw out interesting stories. The downside is he is not trying to write non-fiction: there is no research into the environmental impact of cattle ranching in the arid west, and no mention of the history of displaced American Indians. He lets the social commentary stand for itself when two men convicted of grand larceny never spend a day in jail (we all know that wouldn’t have happened had they been black, but McPhee doesn’t discuss it). The story ends on what I felt was a sad note: the mother cows mooing for their calves taken away for the meat market. As a vegetarian, it was quite noticeable that McPhee didn’t discuss the sustainability of eating cows.

The second story is a short piece about the early talking computer technology which a blind writer used to compose (in I’m guessing the 1980s).

I found the long piece on forensic geology really interesting. It covered the history of the Japanese balloon campaign against the U.S. in WWII more thoroughly than it usually gets covered, and several other fascinating topics as well. The final section of this essay was quite grim, with the FBI investigating Americans killed in Mexico while Mexican authorities do their best to aid the drug traffickers and cover up the murders.

“Duty of Care” was first published in 1993, and at that time England already had a “duty of care” law in which manufacturers of tires had to have an end-plan and know where the tires would end up when they were used up—as opposed to the U.S. which was mainly stockpiling them as waste at the time and is still only now in 2025 beginning in some circles to start talking about the duty of care concept. It was an interesting article about something that was a big waste problem (by volume), and it was intriguing to read of how durable tire material is (seems like a gold mine if the right use could be invented) and some of the early ideas for reuse at the time. In 1993 John McPhee could still write about how burning tires in special power plants produced energy without worse waste than burning coal. Nowadays he would need to write more, because we are trying to reduce our toxic output and simply matching coal isn’t good enough.

There was a very short piece (felt like the beginning to an unfinished piece) on buying fancy used cars.
The final piece was on Plymouth Rock and the myths surrounding it. This one was a reminder that McPhee isn’t a historian; for example he mentioned in passing that Bradford’s wife committed suicide, whereas the reality is we don’t know for sure how she died and it’s equally if not more likely she was murdered. I gave the four star rating because several of the pieces I found very interesting and informative.

[Bookslut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Ah, these books of essays...you almost can't go wrong! I don't know how I lived without them before, and this is the most recent and major change-up to my reading life.

I'm not sure if anything will quite measure up to Serious Face by Jon Mooallem, but this was another home run for Team Essays. I never thought I'd say this, and I'm married to a geologist, but my God this was packed with fascinating geology! It wasn't necessarily the thrust of the book, and the title essay was about cattle branding (also fascinating!), but it was the geology that captured me. I've already recommended it to several people. There is a great mix here of fringe expertise and references to things we are collectively aware of as Americans, and that push-pull created a fabulous reading experience. For instance, the last essay (these are really more pieces of journalism than essays per se, caveat emptor) has the broad context of Plymouth Rock (we all know it) and the little-known information about masonry used to repair the rock (we repaired the rock??), about the geology of where the rock originated from (like, it's not from Plymouth?), and how the rock was treated since its 'discovery' 400 years ago (we have moved it? whittled it? sold pieces of it as tie tacks?), and this expanded my framework in exciting and satisfying ways. Really enjoyable, and the author's wry, understated tone showcased these pieces beautifully.

[andré crombie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cattle, silent, show no interest in the sound of coyotes. All take another step forward. The circle tightens. And still another step. It closes. In their curiosity, they have built around two human beings a beef corral. They occlude the falling sun and study us through twilight. As my gaze slowly moves among these candid faces, these guileless open nonjudgmental faces—from one frank stare to the next—I see behind them future shoes. These are the faces of big spotted owls, of snail darters and three-spined sticklebacks. These are, to a fare-thee-well, endangered specimens. In their soft, tanned appearance you can see the belts and briefcases. There is chewing gum in a cow, soft cartilage for plastic surgery, floor waxes, glues, piano keys. There are detergents, deodorants, crayons, paint, shaving cream, shoe cream, pocket combs, textiles, antifreeze, film, blood plasma, bone marrow, insulin, wallpaper, linoleum, cellophane, and Sheetrock. The sun is behind the mountains. We stand up to leave. They scatter like fish.

[Vic Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

McPhee is in fine form in this collection of essays. The titular essay concerns cattle rustling in modern day Nevada. The final essay is on the geologic origin (as well as the origins of the myth surrounding it) of Plymouth Rock.
As usual, McPhee's essays are a combination of history, science, and local color. His essay "The Gravel Page," is about forensic geology. In it he covers the origins of the practice, works with some of the people at the cutting edge at the time ("Irons" was published in 1997) and gives several real life examples of the work they do and what they can accomplish. In "Gravel" we meet several different people and come to know them not only in their professional capacity, but as people with ideas and personalities. All in one brief essay. It's truly a talent of McPee's that is spread among other writers very thinly.

[John Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been reading John McPhee's writings since the late 1970s. He is the master of non-fiction essays which he writes for THE NEW YORKER. His subject matter is vast so while the seven essays in this collection are now 20 years old, it does not feel at all dated because the subject matters are so different and allow you to learn so much from him and his clear writing. The title essay is about cattle branding and rustling in Nevada, while another long essay in on forensic geologists who help solve crimes by analyzing rock and dirt specimens. The other shorter essays include some more on geology, a natural forest in the midst of New Jersey's urban landscape, and the life of an exotic car salesman. This is another worthwhile collection of John McPhee's writings.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irons in the Fire features John McPhee delving into various points of contact where the human world makes an indelible mark on the natural one, whether its through the cattle brands catalogued by the detectives in the title essay, the nation's largest tire dump, or the geological detectives employed by the FBI to read grit samples taken from tire wells to figure out exactly which road a body was dumped on. I'm consistently amazed by the way that McPhee can pry open a small part of the machinic interplay between these two worlds, the human and the natural, and find the people that traverse those spaces.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! While I've been aware of John McPhee for many years, somehow I guess I never read him until now, when I picked this book up at a small-town "Friends of the Library" book sale while on vacation. I'm now enamored with John McPhee. He is obviously interested in just about everything, and exhaustively researches those ideas that capture him. From forensic geology to tracking modern-day cattle rustlers to the problem of discarded vehicle tires, he makes each topic fascinating.

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of McPhee essays. Mostly about forensic geology (in murder mysteries, WWII stories, & Plymouth Rock restoration)—but also other topics like cattle-brand law enforcement, exotic car shows, and tire recycling.

Fun and fascinating and concise. McPhee has the uncanny ability to convince us of the interesting in the obscure. But it rarely goes deeper than: “Hey, look at this! Isn’t this neat?”

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at a kiosk run by the friends of the Sausalito Public Library for $2 when we were out there a few weeks ago, when I was unhappy with the books I had brought with me, and I have to say it was worth every penny. I can read a lot of John McPhee, even when the subject is forensic geology, of which I know a whole lot more than I used to.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A, good but mostly slight (first read, 1998 -- but many read in the magazine prior)

Reread 2011: A+: *Brand inspector*, Plymouth Rock, old tires... Wow.

Which goes to show, well. McPhee is a wonder, but reception depends on the reader's mood, and whim. Even the same reader....

[Mary Torpey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t get enough of John McPhee. Even when (as here) he’s writing about topics I couldn’t care less about (cattle branding & rustling, Plymouth Rock, exotic cars), his prose and structures are mesmerizing.

[Micah McCarty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been told to read John McPhee by numerous people. His writing is excellent but his subject matter can sometimes be so difficult to care about. Petrogeology? Nah. Rubber tire fires? I'll try a different book of his but this one had me nodding off after the first essay.

[bigbonton · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fine writer, especially making observations and detailing complex issues, but if you use an audiobook do NOT get the ones that have this author as the narrator. Too much mouth noise and nasal interference.

[L. Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely collection of essays. Brands and cattle rustling in modern Nevada, forensic geology locating the Mexican grave of a DEA agent murdered by drug cartels, to the lineage of Plymouth Rock, each one a gem.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this author and enjoyed these short essays.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything by John McPhee is educational and entertaining.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and well written. I loved learning about the different occupations.

[Mike O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, interesting collection of essays. My favorites were the opening one on modern day cattle rustling, and the one about the Coors kidnapping.

[Joe Vess · Rating 4 out of 5]

One or two pieces that weren't quite as engaging, but the title piece and a couple of others were really excellent.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

John McPhee is an amazing writer and has an encyclopedic grasp of so many subjects. As a beginner blacksmith, I loved following him into this world fo fitr and steel.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. Mixed quality. I’ve consumed so much of mcphee’s writing on geology and half the book was on that topic so felt a little “old” to me.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one does it better.

[Olga Vannucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, the endless fascination
With the rocks across the nation.