 Death, Taxes, and Leaky Waders
by John Gierach
Death, Taxes and Leaky Waders collects forty of John Gierach's
finest essays on fishing from six of his books. Like all his writing,
these essays are seasoned by a keen sense of observation and a deep
knowledge and love of fishing lore, leavened by a wonderfully wry sense
of humor. Gierach often begins with an observation that soon leads
to something below the surface, which he finds and successfully lands.
As Gierach says, writing is a lot like fishing.
This is the first anthology of John Gierach's work, a collection that
is sure to delight both diehard fans and new readers alike. To
enter Gierach's world is to experience the daily wonder, challenge,
and occasional absurdity of the fishing life - from such rituals as
the preparation of camp coffee (for best results, serve in a tin cup)
to the random, revelatory surprises, such as the flashing beauty of
a grayling leaping out of the water. Gierach offers nuggets of
practical wisdom on choosing fly patterns and travel companions ("Do
not go fishing with someone who is so set on being back at a certain
time that he will refuse to invent a case of car trouble to keep you
on the water an extra day"), vocabulary ("Expertizing means acting like
an expert. Not necessarily being an expert, mind you, but acting like one"), and how to fish metaphorically ("Fly-fishing
for trout is poetic; for bass it's somewhat existential; for panfish
it's corny, but fun"). In rivers from Colorado to Scotland, whether
alone or accompanied by his fishing buddy A.K. ("I enjoy fishing too
much to risk my life at it. Death can really cut into your fishing
time"), Gierach vividly captures both the subtle rhythms of the angling
life and the natural world on which it depends.
In "The Purist," John Gierach says of fly-fishing that it "led you
inexorably to one paradox after another. The idea was to catch
fish, but the best writers made it evident that it was perfectly okay
not to as long as you failed to catch them with the proper grace and
style."
Whether he's catching fish or musing on the ones that got away, Gierach
is always entertaining and enlightening, writing with his own inimitable
blend of grace and style, passion and wit. |
