"All three elemental battles recounted by the masterly McPhee are unified by the most uncontrolled and stubborn of all forces: human nature." --R. Z. Sheppard, Time

"It is difficult to put these stories aside. If the stories bear witness to the ultimate triumph of nature over human engineering, they also testify to the triumph of art over nature." --Stephen J. Pyne, The New York Times Book Review (front page)

"This book is unmistakable McPhee: the silky narrative, with keen detail and sharp dialogue, the finely drawn characters, the nimble metaphors." --Stephen MacDonald, The Wall Street Journal

"Some of his passages left me gasping for breath...This book gave me more pure enjoyment than anything I've read in a long time." --Christopher Shaw, The Washington Post Book World