From the publisher: "Draft No. 4 is a master class on the writer’s craft. In a series of playful, expertly wrought essays, John McPhee shares insights he has gathered over his career and has refined while teaching at Princeton University, where he has nurtured some of the most esteemed writers of recent decades. In one essay, he considers the delicate art of getting sources to tell you what they might not otherwise reveal. In another, he discusses how to use flashback to place a bear encounter in a travel narrative, while observing that 'readers are not supposed to notice the structure. It is meant to be about as visible as someone’s bones.' Draft No. 4 is enriched by multiple diagrams and by personal anecdotes and charming reflections on the life of a writer. Throughout, Draft No. 4 is enlivened by his keen sense of writing as a way of being in the world."

Our Book Club community manager and nonfiction lover Ginger found this title among James Mustich’s 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die. In this slim volume, McPhee shares everything you didn’t know you wanted to know about oranges. The seemingly ubiquitous fruit is rich with history and its importance in the realms of climate, geography, economics, and nutrition will surprise you. McPhee’s engaging voice will make you feel like you took an exciting class field trip to the Florida orchards, and you’ll never look at an orange the same way again.