John McPhee Books in Order
John McPhee has written 45 books, published between 1965 and 2025. The first book is A Sense of Where You Are (1965) and the newest is They're in the River (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 45
- Published
- 1965–2025
- Pages on record
- 8,916 in 37 of 45 books
- Reading time
- 149–223 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 8,916 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 37 of 45 titles with a page count on record.
John Angus McPhee, born on 8 March 1931, is an American writer regarded as a pioneer of creative nonfiction. McPhee was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in General Nonfiction four times and won in 1999 for Annals of the Former World, a collection of five books. The George Polk Career Award followed in 2008, and McPhee has held the Ferris Professorship of Journalism at Princeton University since 1974. The catalogue lists 45 McPhee books, from A Sense of Where You Are (1965) to They're in the River (2025), including Oranges (1967), The Pine Barrens (1967) and Encounters with the Archdruid (1971). Subjects include geology, essays and travel.
How many John McPhee books are there?
John McPhee has 45 books, released between 1965 and 2025. They include 2 series and 37 titles listed outside any series.
John McPhee Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 45 John McPhee books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1A Sense of Where You Are1965 · confirmed 1/41965–1/4
- 2The Headmaster1966 · 149 pages · confirmed 1/419661491/4
- 3Oranges1967 · 149 pages · confirmed 1/419671491/4
- 4The Pine Barrens1967 · 149 pages · confirmed 1/419671491/4
- 5A Roomful of Hovings1968 · confirmed 1/41968–1/4
- 6Levels of the Game1969 · 160 pages · confirmed 1/419691601/4
- 7The Crofter and the Laird1970 · confirmed 1/41970–1/4
- 8Encounters with the Archdruid1971 · 245 pages · confirmed 1/419712451/4
- 9Giving Good Weight1972 · 261 pages · confirmed 1/419722611/4
- 10Wimbledon1972 · 120 pages · confirmed 1/419721201/4
- 11The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed1973 · 184 pages · confirmed 1/419731841/4
- 12The Curve of Binding Energy1974 · 231 pages · confirmed 1/419742311/4
- 13Pieces of the Frame1975 · 308 pages · confirmed 1/419753081/4
- 14The Survival of the Bark Canoe1975 · 114 pages · confirmed 1/419751141/4
- 1519763851/4
- 16Coming into the Country1977 · 438 pages · confirmed 1/419774381/4
- 1719812151/4
- 1819832091/4
- 19La Place de la Concorde Suisse1983 · 152 pages · confirmed 1/419831521/4
- 20Riding the Boom Extension1983 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/41983321/4
- 21Table of Contents1985 · 293 pages · confirmed 1/419852931/4
- 2219862131/4
- 23In The Highlands And The Islands1986 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/419862241/4
- 24Heirs of General Practice1986 · 119 pages · confirmed 1/419861191/4
- 25Outcroppings1988 · 130 pages · confirmed 1/419881301/4
- 26The Control of Nature1989 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/419892721/4
- 27Looking for a Ship1990 · 241 pages · confirmed 1/419902411/4
- 2819923031/4
- 29Cargo1993 · confirmed 1/41993–1/4
- 30The Ransom of Russian Art1994 · 181 pages · confirmed 1/419941811/4
- 31Turning the World Upside Down1995 · confirmed 1/41995–1/4
- 3219963931/4
- 33Irons in the Fire1997 · 215 pages · confirmed 1/419972151/4
- 3419986951/4
- 35Instructor's Manual to Accompany Worldly Wisdom by Daniel Bonevac2001 · confirmed 1/42001–1/4
- 36The Princeton Anthology of Writing2001 · 376 pages · confirmed 1/420013761/4
- 37The Founding Fish2002 · 358 pages · confirmed 1/420023581/4
- 38The American Shad2004 · 88 pages · confirmed 1/42004881/4
- 39Uncommon Carriers2006 · 248 pages · confirmed 1/420062481/4
- 40Silk Parachute2010 · 227 pages · confirmed 1/420102271/4
- 41The Princeton Reader2010 · 389 pages · confirmed 1/420103891/4
- 42Draft No. 42013 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/420132081/4
- 43The Patch2018 · 242 pages · confirmed 1/420182421/4
- 44Tabula Rasa: Volume 12023 · confirmed 1/42023–1/4
- 452025–1/4
John McPhee books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Annals of the Former World in order
5 booksJohn McPhee Reader in order
2 booksPicador Shorts in order
1 bookStandalone books
37 books37 John McPhee titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read John McPhee books in order?
You only need to read John McPhee books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with John McPhee
Start with A Sense of Where You Are (1965), the earliest published title.
What is the newest John McPhee book?
They're in the River (2025) is the newest John McPhee book released so far.
Is there a new John McPhee book coming?
No next John McPhee book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards John McPhee has won
Wikidata records 2 awards for John McPhee. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction1999Won
- John Burroughs Medal1990Won
John McPhee at a glance
- Still publishing
- John McPhee published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- John McPhee books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 8,916 pages across the 37 of 45 books with a recorded length, a median of 224 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most John McPhee books, 10 of 45, were published in the 1980s.
What the John McPhee books are about
39 of the 45 John McPhee books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: geology is tagged on 7 of 39. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.