Knowra Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (1927–2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, and travel writer whose nonfiction joined close observation of nature with spiritual inquiry.
The Snow Leopard : Peter Matthiessen’s 1978 account of a Himalayan journey combining natural history, Buddhist reflection, and personal grief. This celebrated travel narrative brings his naturalist eye and spiritual searching together.
At Play in the Fields of the Lord : Peter Matthiessen’s 1965 novel about missionaries, Indigenous people, and outsiders in the Amazon basin. It turns his interest in cultural collision and threatened worlds into fiction.
George Plimpton : An American writer, editor, and actor who co-founded The Paris Review. Plimpton co-founded The Paris Review with Matthiessen in 1953.
Aldo Leopold : An American ecologist and writer whose land ethic shaped modern conservation thought. Leopold presents a more explicitly ethical and ecological framework than Matthiessen’s journey-centered writing.
National Book Award : An annual American literary prize recognizing outstanding books published in the United States. Matthiessen won the 2008 award for fiction for Shadow Country.
Shadow Country : Peter Matthiessen’s 2008 novel, a revised and expanded version of his earlier Florida trilogy. This novel shows his transformation of regional history into a large-scale literary work.
Killing Mister Watson : Peter Matthiessen’s 1990 novel, the first volume of his Florida trilogy about the historical figure Edgar J. Watson. It begins the historical project later gathered and reshaped as Shadow Country.
The Paris Review : An American literary magazine founded in Paris in 1953, known for fiction and author interviews. Matthiessen helped establish the magazine early in his writing career.
Annie Dillard : An American essayist whose books include the nature-writing classic Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Dillard’s close observation and spiritual inquiry provide a stylistic counterpart to Matthiessen.
The Florida Everglades : A subtropical wetland ecosystem in southern Florida, shaped by seasonal flows of water. The Everglades and Florida’s changing landscape anchor his later historical fiction.
Show all 27