"After five decades, twenty books, and countless columns, [John
Gierach] is still a master," (Forbes) and his newest book only
confirms this assessment, along with his recent induction into the
Flyfishing Hall of Fame. In A Fly Rod of Your Own, Gierach brings his
ever-sharp sense of humor and keen eye for observation to the fishing
life and, for that matter, life in general.
Known for his witty, trenchant observations about fly-fishing, Gierach's
"deceptively laconic prose masks an accomplished storyteller...his alert
and slightly off-kilter observations place him in the general
neighborhood of Mark Twain and James Thurber" (Publishers Weekly). A
Fly Rod of Your Own transports readers to streams and rivers from Maine
to Montana, and as always, Gierach's fishing trips become the
inspiration for his pointed observations on everything from the
psychology of fishing ("Fishing is still an oddly passive-aggressive
business that depends on the prey being the aggressor"); why even the
most veteran fisherman will muff his cast whenever he's being filmed or
photographed; the inevitable accumulation of more gear than one could
ever need ("Nature abhors an empty pocket. So does the tackle
industry"); or the qualities shared by the best guides ("the generosity
of a teacher, the craftiness of a psychiatrist, and the enthusiasm of a
cheerleader with a kind of Vulcan detachment").
As Gierach likes to say, "fly-fishing is a continuous process that you
learn to love for its own sake. Those who fish already get it, and those
who don't couldn't care less, so don't waste your breath on someone who
doesn't fish." A Fly Rod of Your Own is an ode to those who fish that
"brings a skeptical, wry voice to the peril and promise of
twenty-first-century fishing" (Booklist).
