Fool's Paradise

Simon & Schuster, 2009-05-05. Paperback. Good. 8x5x0. If John Gierach is living in a fools paradise, then its a paradise that his regular readers will recognize and new fans will delight in discovering. Laced with the inimitable blend of wit and wisdom that have made him fly-fishings foremost scribe, Fools Paradise chronicles the fishing life in all its glory (catching your biggest fish ever) and squalor (being stranded in a tent during a soaking rainstorm). In Gierachs world, both experiences are valuable, and perhaps inevitable. Fishermen everywhere will understand Gierachs quest to discover and explore new waters (and then not to divulge the best locations to anyone), the unlikely appeal of winter fly-fishing, or his dismay at encroaching development never get to point at a meadow full of browsing mule deer and say, You know, all this was once condos. Braving trips on small prop planes and down Oh-My-God roads, Gierach and his fishing buddies pursue bull trout in British Columbia, steelhead in the Rocky Mountains, and pike so fierce that a wise fisherman wears Kevlar gloves for the obligatory trophy photo. Equal parts fishing lore, philosophy, and great fish stories, Fools Paradise may not be a perfect substitute for actually being out on the water, but its surely the next best thing. Gierach's work has appeared in Gray's Sporting Journal, Field & Stream, where he is a contributing author, and Fly, Rod, and Reel, where he is an editor at large. He also writes columns for the Longmont Daily Times-Call out of Longmont, Colorado, the monthly Redstone Review, and a monthly column for The New York Times. Gierach was the 1994 recipient of the US Federation of Fly Fishers Roderick Haig-Brown Award. The award recognizes a fly fishing author whose work embodies the philosophy and spirit of Roderick Haig-Brown, particularly a respect for the ethics and traditions of fly fishing and an understanding of rivers, the inhabitants and their environments.