{"product_id":"the-pine-barrens-9780374514426","title":"The Pine Barrens","description":"\u003cp\u003eMost people think of New Jersey as a suburban-industrial corridor that runs between New York and Philadelphia. Yet in the low center of the state is a near wilderness, larger than most national parks, which has been known since the seventeenth century as the Pine Barrens. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe term refers to the predominant trees in the vast forests that cover the area and to the quality of the soils below, which are too sandy and acid to be good for farming. On all sides, however, developments of one kind or another have gradually moved in, so that now the central and integral forest is reduced to about a thousand square miles. Although New Jersey has the heaviest population density of any state, huge segments of the Pine Barrens remain uninhabited. The few people who dwell in the region, the \"Pineys,\" are little known and often misunderstood. Here McPhee uses his uncanny skills as a journalist to explore the history of the region and describe the people--and their distinctive folklore--who call it home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn McPhee\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and was educated at Princeton University and Cambridge University. His writing career began at \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and led to his long association with \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, where he has been a staff writer since 1965. Also in 1965, he published his first book, \u003ci\u003eA Sense of Where You Are\u003c\/i\u003e, with Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and in the years since, he has written nearly 30 books, including \u003ci\u003eOranges\u003c\/i\u003e (1967), \u003ci\u003eComing into the Country\u003c\/i\u003e (1977), \u003ci\u003eThe Control of Nature\u003c\/i\u003e (1989), \u003ci\u003eThe Founding Fish\u003c\/i\u003e (2002), \u003ci\u003eUncommon Carriers\u003c\/i\u003e (2007), and \u003ci\u003eSilk Parachute\u003c\/i\u003e (2011). \u003ci\u003eEncounters with the Archdruid\u003c\/i\u003e (1972) and \u003ci\u003eThe Curve of Binding Energy\u003c\/i\u003e (1974) were nominated for National Book Awards in the category of science. McPhee received the Award in Literature from the Academy of Arts and Letters in 1977. In 1999, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for \u003ci\u003eAnnals of the Former World\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50644470399250,"sku":"9780374514426","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a286b00b-8d43-4752-b614-b72dfa0ef05a.jpg?v=1733111160","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-pine-barrens-9780374514426","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}