Crazy for Rivers: Tales of Trout Fishing - Softcover

Barich, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1629144223 ISBN 13: 9781629144221

Publisher: Skyhorse, 2015

Synopsis

That autumn, I went a little crazy for rivers.”

So writes Bill Barich, and this charming volume captures the essence of obsession. The hours he spent on various streams became a meditation on family, friends, and the natural world. To anyone who remembers the infinite patience of a grandfather on a lake, or the romance of a mountain getaway with a new girlfriend; to anyone who can recall each fish caught on days that were far too hot, or way too cold, or on rivers too crowded, or in canyons too steep; to anyone who has appreciated the trust of an age-old fishing partner, or marveled at the beauty of a leaping trout to anyone, in fact, who has ever gone a little crazy for rivers, Bill Barich’s wonderful memories of a season on the water and a lifetime of fishing will seem both touching and wise. This little book is a gem.

Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for fishermen. Our books for anglers include titles that focus on fly fishing, bait fishing, fly-casting, spin casting, deep sea fishing, and surf fishing. Our books offer both practical advice on tackle, techniques, knots, and more, as well as lyrical prose on fishing for bass, trout, salmon, crappie, baitfish, catfish, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

About this title

Review:

Bill Barich casts such deft prose that the thinness of Crazy for Rivers might feel like a disappointment to some readers; at 80 pages in length, you wish there were simply more of it. Barich's skill flows from the way he can layer a book, pulling in disparate venues--as he did so masterfully in Laughing in the Hills with death, mourning, horseracing, and the Renaissance--to form a three-dimensional whole; when he limits himself to a narrower scope, his pool seems achingly fished out.

Still, what there is here is choice, elegant, and even stark. When Barich writes about fly-fishing and the pursuit of trout--"That autumn," he begins, "I went a little crazy for rivers"--he's, of course, writing about more, much more: family, friendship, loyalty, identity, obsession, even midlife crisis. For all the good fishing and fish stories he offers, it is ultimately the reeling in of the spirit that becomes his best catch: "I thought about the friends, lovers, and family I had fished with," he writes in his notebook on his last night out: "where they were now and what they might be doing....It must all be catch-and-release in the end, I thought, all part of a flow whose essence we can never truly grasp." Perhaps we can't. But at least Barich provides an angle on it. --Jeff Silverman

From the Publisher:

A lyrical reminiscence of a magical autumn of fishing--and a lifetime love affair with rivers. Line Drawings.

About this edition

• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1629144223
• ISBN 13: 9781629144221
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96