Reddit mentions of Uncommon Carriers

If anyone is interested, Uncommon Carriers by John McPhee is a pretty good book. It talks about moving freight by train, truck and, barge and those moving it.

I know I am late to the party but I figured I'd ask anyway.

I love all forms of transportation infrastructure. One of my favorite non-fiction books is Uncommon Carriers (except that boring part about canoes). Are there any other good resources where I can get a good narrative description of what your life is like?

And, if you read that book, what did you think of it?

Thanks! I just wish I could say there were more good things on the list.

And thanks for the Patton recommendation, I'll check that out.

I do recommend anything by John McPhee in the strongest possible terms. It's all non-fiction, and always interesting and often very funny, and about a tremendous range of topics.

Like fishing? Read The Founding Fish, which is all about the American Shad, and I mentioned before.

Like boats? Looking For a Ship is about the merchant marine.

Planes, trains, and automobiles (and more boats)? Uncommon Carriers deals with all of them, and why almost all lobster eaten in the US comes from Kentucky.

Care for tales about why New Orleans is doomed, pissing on lava , and debris flows in LA? The Control of Nature covers those.

Fruit? How about Oranges?

Geology? The Annals of the Former World is a compilation of several shorter books more or less following I-80 across the US.

Sports? Tennis (and basketball to a lesser extent). He's also written about lacrosse in various magazines.

...And a ton of other stuff, ranging from bears to farmers markets to nuclear energy to lifting body airplanes to Switzerland.