New Books Network Edward McPherson, "Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View" (Astra House, 2025)
Dec 13, 2025
Edward McPherson, a writer and creative writing professor at Washington University in St. Louis, dives into the fascinating world of long-distance mapping and aerial perspectives. He explores the allure of aerial views, discussing their power to shape societal narratives while also shedding light on the dangers of surveillance. McPherson reflects on historical and modern parallels, like the 19th-century craze for bird's-eye maps and today's drone usage. He emphasizes the need to balance lofty insights with grounded awareness for a richer understanding of our world.
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Aerial View As Cultural Obsession
- The aerial view acts as both a literal perspective and a cultural obsession across time.
- McPherson connects maps, drones, spaceflight, and surveillance into a single cultural history.
How 19th-Century Bird's-Eye Maps Were Made
- Itinerant artists produced bird's-eye lithographs of U.S. towns without ever leaving the ground.
- They walked towns, used classical perspective, then lithographed and sold subscriptions to residents.
Maps Erase As Much As They Reveal
- Maps reveal as much by erasing what they omit, especially Indigenous presence and claimed 'empty' land.
- McPherson frames bird's-eye maps as a colonial gaze tied to expansion and commerce.
