- Born:
- May 22, 1927, New York, New York, U.S. (age 99)
- Died:
- April 5, 2014, Sagaponack
- Awards And Honors:
- National Book Award
- Notable Works:
- “At Play in the Fields of the Lord”
- “Blue Meridian: The Search for the Great White Shark”
- “Bone by Bone”
- “Far Tortuga”
- “In Paradise”
- “In the Spirit of Crazy Horse”
- “Race Rock”
- “Shadow Country”
- “The Cloud Forest: A Chronicle of the South American Wilderness”
- “The Snow Leopard”
- “Under the Mountain Wall: A Chronicle of Two Seasons in the Stone Age”
- “Wildlife in America”
Peter Matthiessen
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Who was Peter Matthiessen?
Peter Matthiessen (1927–2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, and wilderness writer. His work often explored technology's destructive impact on preindustrial cultures and the environment. He served in the U.S. Navy and attended the Sorbonne and Yale before co-founding The Paris Review.
Matthiessen was a dedicated naturalist who traveled extensively, documenting the destruction of wildlife in North America in Wildlife in America (1959) and exploring remote regions such as Nepal in The Snow Leopard (1978), which won the National Book Award. His other works include At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965) and Shadow Country (2008), which also won the National Book Award.
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What types of books did Peter Matthiessen write?
Peter Matthiessen was an American author known for his novels, wilderness writings, and works on natural history. His writings often explored technology's impact on both preindustrial cultures and the environment.
Matthiessen wrote over 15 nonfiction books, including Wildlife in America (1959), The Cloud Forest: A Chronicle of the South American Wilderness (1961), and Under the Mountain Wall: A Chronicle of Two Seasons in the Stone Age (1962). His works also include Blue Meridian: The Search for the Great White Shark (1971), The Snow Leopard (1978), African Silences (1991), Indian Country (1992), Baikal: Sacred Sea of Siberia (1992), The Birds of Heaven (2001), and Tigers in the Snow (2002).
His novels include Race Rock (1954), At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965), Far Tortuga (1975), Killing Mister Watson (1990), Lost Man’s River (1997), Bone by Bone (1999), Shadow Country (2008), and In Paradise (2014).
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What are some of Peter Matthiessen’s most famous works?
Peter Matthiessen was an American novelist, naturalist, and wilderness writer. His works often explore technology's destructive impact on preindustrial cultures and the environment.
Some of his most famous works include:
* Wildlife in America (1959), which documents the destruction of wildlife in North America
* The Snow Leopard (1978), set in remote Nepal, which won the National Book Award for nonfiction and the American Book Award
* At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965), a novel that explores the convergence of missionaries, mercenaries, and an isolated tribe
* Shadow Country (2008), a compilation of his trilogy about a murderous planter in the Florida Everglades, which won the National Book Award for fiction1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What themes did Peter Matthiessen often explore in his writing?
Peter Matthiessen's writing often explored the destructive impact of technology on both preindustrial cultures and the natural environment. His works, blending fiction and nonfiction, are known for their remote settings, descriptive language, and strong advocacy for nature conservation. Matthiessen's notable works include Wildlife in America, which chronicles the destruction of North American wildlife, and The Snow Leopard, set in Nepal. His fiction, such as At Play in the Fields of the Lord, examines the disruptive meeting of missionaries, mercenaries, and isolated tribes.
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How did Peter Matthiessen’s work as an environmentalist influence his books?
Peter Matthiessen's work as a naturalist and wilderness writer significantly shaped his books. His writings often combined remote settings, lyrical descriptions, and a strong dedication to advocating for the preservation of the natural world. Matthiessen's experiences touring wildlife refuges and his concern over the destructive effects of technology on both preindustrial cultures and the environment are common themes throughout his work. His passion for the environment influenced both his fiction and nonfiction, including works such as Wildlife in America, The Snow Leopard, and The Birds of Heaven.
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What awards and recognition did Peter Matthiessen receive during his career?
Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, naturalist, and wilderness writer, received several awards and recognition for his work. His book The Snow Leopard (1978), set in remote regions of Nepal, won the National Book Award for Nonfiction and the American Book Award. Matthiessen's novel, Shadow Country (2008), which revised and compiled his earlier trilogy, also won the National Book Award for Fiction.
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Peter Matthiessen (born May 22, 1927, New York, New York, U.S.—died April 5, 2014, Sagaponack) was an American novelist, naturalist, and wilderness writer whose work dealt with the destructive effects of encroaching technology on preindustrial cultures and the natural environment. Both his fiction and nonfiction works combined remote settings, lyrical description, and passionate advocacy for the preservation of the natural world.
After serving in the U.S. Navy (1945–47), Matthiessen attended the Sorbonne and Yale University (B.A., 1950). He moved to Paris, where he associated with other expatriate American writers such as William Styron, James Baldwin, and Irwin Shaw. While there he helped found and edit the literary journal The Paris Review with childhood friend George Plimpton in 1953. Matthiessen later admitted that he had formed the magazine at the behest of the Central Intelligence Agency, having been recruited following his college graduation. The agency had felt that he needed more cover for his spying activities, which included reporting on communist developments. He severed his relationship with the agency shortly after the foundation of the magazine.
A dedicated naturalist, Matthiessen embarked on a tour of every wildlife refuge in the United States during the mid-1950s. He wrote more than 15 books of nonfiction, including Wildlife in America (1959), a history of the destruction of wildlife in North America; The Cloud Forest: A Chronicle of the South American Wilderness (1961); and Under the Mountain Wall: A Chronicle of Two Seasons in the Stone Age (1962), about his experiences as a member of a scientific expedition to New Guinea. Blue Meridian: The Search for the Great White Shark (1971) sheds light on a predator about which little is known. The Snow Leopard (1978), set in remote regions of Nepal, won both the National Book Award for nonfiction and the American Book Award.
Matthiessen continued to range far and wide, producing African Silences (1991), Indian Country (1992), and Baikal: Sacred Sea of Siberia (1992). His book In the Spirit of Crazy Horse (1983), about the conflict between federal agents and the American Indian Movement at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1973, was the subject of a prolonged libel suit that blocked all but an initial printing and was not settled until 1990; in 1991 the book was republished. Matthiessen again made impassioned calls for the protection of wildlife in The Birds of Heaven (2001), which details a journey across multiple continents in search of cranes, and Tigers in the Snow (2002), which chronicles the plight of the Siberian tiger. The Peter Matthiessen Reader: Nonfiction 1959–1991 was published in 2000.
Matthiessen’s first novel, Race Rock (1954), follows the exploits and moral degeneration of four young New Englanders. The acclaimed At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1965; film 1991) investigates the cataclysmic convergence of the lives of missionaries, mercenaries, and an isolated tribe of Indians modeled on the Yanomami. Far Tortuga (1975) concerns the events leading up to the death of the crew of a turtle-fishing boat in the Caribbean. A trilogy, composed of Killing Mister Watson (1990), Lost Man’s River (1997), and Bone by Bone (1999), fictionalizes the life of a murderous planter in the Florida Everglades at the beginning of the 20th century. Matthiessen later revised and compiled the three volumes into a single novel, Shadow Country (2008), which won the National Book Award for fiction. In Paradise (2014) details the reflections of a Holocaust scholar on a meditative retreat at Auschwitz.