Opening+the+Stacks+MH

"Opening the Stacks" By: Mackenzie Heckbert

It is interesting how McPhee uses commentary as freely as regular language in his article this was the first thing that really struck me. It fits into the article and the reader almost has to take a second look to realize it is in fact a person speaking. I found this to be a really interesting device and it forces his reader to go back and read it again this making me wonder if he does this because the speaker either has great importance or no importance to his story at all. I can tell that books and reading is a great importance to McPhee and his passion in life. The way he describes sitting on the piles of magazines discovering all the great riches text can bring shows how deeply he is moved by literature and at that time it was "The New Yorker" that provided this for him. His love for "The New Yorker" is expressed very deeply in this article, the magazine became part of his identity even before he got the chance to be a writer within it. It is ironic that he became a permanent feature in the magazines, through this article is shows how accomplished he feels to be writing for this prestigious and artistic collection.