Silk Parachute - John McPhee

John McPhee has long been known for taking very specific topics and sussing out everything that makes them interesting.  With his 28th book, McPhee widens the filter and turns his gaze on himself. Silk Parachute (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25) sheds light on where the ideas for previous books have come from: McPhee’s experience with canoes as a child, his year at Deerfield Academy, his first glimpse of Bill Bradley playing basketball at Princeton.  This book is like a perfect copy of The New Yorker where every story is captivating and every word is worth reading.