The installments of Peter Matthiessen's Florida trilogy -- Killing Mister Watson, Lost Man's River, Bone by Bone -- were already considered heroic efforts and even, perhaps, masterpieces.
So why re-edit them into the new and extremely large Shadow Country (Modern Library, $40)? Because the 892-page revision is how Matthiessen -- naturalist, environmental activist, National Book Award winner -- envisioned the work from the start.
''It originally was an enormous book, 1,500 or 2,000 pages,'' the novelist says from his New York publisher's office. ``It was much too big for Random House to take on. So we split it up, . . . and that was unsatisfactory to me. I always wanted to put it back together, like Humpty Dumpty.''
With Shadow Country Matthiessen, 80, has tightened the story, although his projection of a months-long rewrite stretched into five or six years. But he's pleased with the new version. ''I wasn't confident it would see the light of day,'' he admits. And he hopes Floridians will respond positively. ``If it doesn't do well in Florida, it won't do well anywhere.''
-- CONNIE OGLE
