As a young commuter, John McPhee would stop by an orange juice stand at New York’s Penn Station. “From late autumn and on through winter and spring,” he wrote, “I noticed a gradual deepening of the color of the expressed juice. December was pale cadmium, April marigold, and June a Persian orange.” That set him to wondering about the different varieties of the fruit. “I didn't linger over the question. I had to get to work.”
After he left the staff of Time magazine for a freelance writing career, he remembered the oranges and pitched the topic to the editor of The New Yorker, William Shawn. “While mentioning a number of story possibilities to Mr. Shawn, I uttered the single word ‘oranges?’”
The answer was yes, and the magazine article of a few hundred words grew into a book, as McPhee’s insatiable curiosity devoured the entire story of oranges throughout history.
John McPhee’s eye for stories and his skill at telling them is at the heart of Noel Rubinton’s new book, Looking For A Story: A Complete Guide to the Writings of John McPhee, published by Princeton University Press. In a conversation with me today, Noel described the detective work he had to do to unearth McPhee’s full oeuvre, including years of compelling but unbylined writing for Time. I hope you enjoy our chat.
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