Coming into the Countryisan unforgettable account of Alaska and Alaskans. It is a rich tapestryof vivid characters, observed landscapes, and descriptive narrative, inthree principal segments that deal, respectively, with a totalwilderness, with urban Alaska, and with life in the remoteness of thebush.Readers of McPhee's earlier books will not be unpreparedfor his surprising shifts of scene and ordering of events, brilliantlycombined into an organic whole. In the course of this volume we are madeacquainted with the lore and techniques of placer mining, the habitsand legends of the barren-ground grizzly, the outlook of a youngAthapaskan chief, and tales of the fortitude of settlers--ordinarypeople compelled by extraordinary dreams.Coming into the Countryunitesa vast region of America with one of America's notable literarycraftsmen, singularly qualified to do justice to the scale and grandeurof the design.