Dry, intelligent recollections of a fly-fishing life, from Raymond
(Steelhead Country, not reviewed, etc.). Raymond has cobbled
together 16 essays, grouped under four categories: fishing
acquaintances, venues (the Miramichi, Christmas Island, the River
Dee, and others), items (flies, cane rods, and an odd-man-out piece
on reviewing fishing books), and a mostly humorous miscellany. For
Raymond, who has been editing and writing fishing material almost
as long as he has been fishing (though he makes his living as a
newspaperman), this is not a greatest hits collection - there are
winners and losers in each section. Rather, the essays are bound
together by their honesty and practicality and in their desire to
convey the boundless, multihued fascinations of a day astream, even
when it features kidney stone torment, rattlesnakes, poison ivy,
and dog feces all in an afternoon. As with any fishing book that
isn't afraid to float a position, readers will find much to quibble
with: which writers on fly fishing are worth reading (he
suspiciously neglects Thomas McGuane, Jim Harrison, Bill Barich,
and Datus Proper, perhaps because Raymond is a bit prim), the claim
that class status isn't a consideration when choosing a fishing
buddy, or the inconceivable statement that he liked the movie A
River Runs Through It better than Norman Maclean's book. There are
times when his prose comes empurpled - "each wave driven by the
pulsing energy of the world's great hidden heart" - but not enough
to be mortifying. There are other times when the writing feels like
a plug for a lodge: "The 12 guest rooms had been outfitted with
air-conditioning units and new queen-sized beds." But for the most
part, these are good fishing stories: glorious locales, smartly
observed; a wealth of arcana and history and self-deprecating
humor. And it doesn't hurt that he can turn a decent phrase.
(Kirkus Reviews)
Like a fly box with colorful patterns, these pages hold some of the
best and brightest moments of a long-fly-fishing life. Here is the
ecstasy (occasional agony) of fishing for trout, salmon, and
saltwater gamefish - in waters from Canada to the Caribbean,
northern Scotland to the South Pacific. You'll meet some of the
most memorable fishing partners ever to share a stream, discover
the long-lost legacy of a famous pioneer fly tyer, and feel the
warmth of an extraordinary gift from an old fishing friend.There is
a funny and poignant tale of two Russian anglers who came to fish
in America; a glimpse at the "Blue Heaven" of dry-fly fishing; a
look into "the truth" behind fly-fishing magazines and books; and
the result of one angler's diligent search for the source of the
world's best rod-building bamboo.If you've ever wondered how fly
patterns get their names, what the perfect river would be like, or
what Dame Juliana Berners might be doing if she were alive today,
read this book. And there's much more in this warmly written memoir
of the people, places, things, realities, and fantasies encountered
by the author in the more than fifty years of fishing the waters he
now remembers as his "rivers of the heart." (61/4 X 91/4, 252
pages, illustrations)
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