{"product_id":"true-nature-the-lives-of-peter-matthiessen","title":"True Nature: The Lives of Peter Matthiessen","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Magnificent' \u003cb\u003eROBERT MACFARLANE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Fascinating' \u003cb\u003eKATHERINE MAY\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Irresistible'\u003cb\u003e KATHERINE BUCKNELL\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Perceptive and consistently readable'\u003cb\u003e CAL FLYN\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDiscover the many lives of Peter Matthiessen - writer, naturalist, activist, CIA agent, Zen master - in this kaleidoscopic biography of an American literary giant.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAuthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Snow Leopard\u003c\/i\u003e, co-founder of the \u003ci\u003eParis Review\u003c\/i\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 literature. He was also an undercover agent for the fledgling CIA; an environmental activist; an advocate for Native American rights; friends with the likes of Truman Capote and William Styron; and a daring explorer who visited every continent on Earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcross these many lives, Matthiessen was always searching for what he called his 'true nature', and this spiritual quest ultimately led him to the highest ranks of Zen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReaders and critics have struggled to reconcile Matthiessen's extraordinarily varied achievements and literary output. 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\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHardback | 736 pages | Published October 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chatto \u0026 Windus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":63956676575581,"sku":"9781784743017","price":37.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0978\/3459\/8749\/files\/9781784743017.jpg?v=1774263578","url":"https:\/\/www.thebookmark.ie\/products\/true-nature-the-lives-of-peter-matthiessen","provider":"The Bookmark ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}