{"product_id":"true-nature-by-lance-richardson-9781784743024","title":"True Nature","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first major biography of Peter Matthiessen, celebrated author of \u003cem\u003eThe Snow Leopard\u003c\/em\u003e, founder of the \u003cem\u003eParis Review\u003c\/em\u003e, towering figure of 20th-century American literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFascinating\u003c\/em\u003e - KATHERINE MAY, author of \u003cem\u003eWintering\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDiscover the many lives of Peter Matthiessen - writer, naturalist, activist, CIA agent, Zen master - in this kaleidoscopic biography of an American literary giant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor of \u003cem\u003eThe Snow Leopard\u003c\/em\u003e, co-founder of the \u003cem\u003eParis Review\u003c\/em\u003e and the only writer to have ever won the National Book Award for both fiction and nonfiction, Peter Matthiessen was a towering figure of twentieth-century American literary culture. He was also, briefly, an undercover agent for the fledgling CIA; an environmental activist; an advocate for Native American rights and California farmworkers; friends with the likes of Truman Capote and William Styron; and a daring explorer who visited every continent on Earth, scaling the Himalayas and floating through the Amazon on a balsawood raft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAcross these many lives, Matthiessen was always searching for what he called his 'true nature' - an enlightened state of being, without ego - and this spiritual quest ultimately led him, even as he inflicted great pain on three wives and multiple children, to the highest ranks of Zen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders and critics have struggled to reconcile Matthiessen's extraordinarily varied achievements and literary output, which included everything from experimental novels to advocacy journalism. Now, for the first time, drawing on rich primary sources and hundreds of interviews, acclaimed biographer Lance Richardson pulls together the seemingly disparate threads of Matthiessen's story. With page-turning immediacy, Richardson illuminates how the writer's uncanny gifts enabled him to sense connections between ecological decline, racism and labour exploitation - to express, eloquently and presciently, that 'in a damaged human habitat, all problems merge'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSplendidly readable ... Richardson writes with flair and erudition\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/strong\u003e on \u003cem\u003eHouse of Nutter\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIlluminating and vividly drawn\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eSunday Telegraph\u003c\/strong\u003e on \u003cem\u003eHouse of Nutter\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46549505802476,"sku":"9781784743024","price":45.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781784743024.jpg?v=1750028552","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/products\/true-nature-by-lance-richardson-9781784743024","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}