The long-awaitedguide to writing long-form nonfictionby the legendary author and teacher"Followers of John McPhee, perhaps the most revered nonfiction narrative journalist of our time, will luxuriate in the ship-shape prose of "Draft No. 4"... Interspersed with observations every writer should remember... I savoured every word."  -Corby Kummer, New York Times Book ReviewDraft No. 4is a master class on the writer’s craft. In a series of playful, expertly wrought essays,John McPheeshares insights he has gathered over his career and has refined while teaching atPrinceton University, where he has nurtured some of the most esteemed writers of recent decades.McPhee offers definitive guidance in the decisions regarding arrangement, diction, and tone that shape nonfiction pieces, and he presents extracts from his work, subjecting them to wry scrutiny. The result is a vivid depiction of the writing process, from reporting to drafting to revising - and revising, and revising."McPhee’s sentences are born of patience and attention: he seems to possess a pair of eyes with the swivel, zoom and reach of a peregrine falcon’s, and a pair of ears with the recording ability of a dictaphone. He notices almost everything."-Robert Macfarlane, The GuardianDraft No. 4is enriched by multiple diagrams and by personal anecdotes and charming reflections on the life of a writer. McPhee describes his enduring relationships withThe New YorkerandFarrar, Straus and Giroux, and recalls his early years atTime Magazine. Throughout,Draft No. 4is enlivened by his keen sense of writing as a way of being in the world.