W
ho better to edit and introduce an enormous collection of fishing writing than one of America’s most accomplished editors and publishers of angling books, Nick Lyons. Lyons has turned over every stone to include an incredible array of well-known fishing scribes like Izaak Walton, Thomas McGuane, James Prosek and John McPhee. And with the inclusion of literary heavyweights like Lord Byron, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Rudyard Kipling and Washington Irving, the selections run the gamut from nonfiction and fiction to poetry, and cover just about every fish, from the regal trout to the powerful tuna. While all the entries may not fit every angler’s fancy, they certainly ensure that there is something for everyone. Despite the varying writing styles, the collection never feels disjointed because, to borrow a phrase from A River Runs Through It
by Norman Maclean, who’s included, in the end all these divergent topics seem to “merge into one.” That’s because they share the virtues of anticipation, mystery and wonder that are inherent not only to great literature but to a sporting endeavor that focuses on knowing what is happening beneath the surface. (June)
