Rating: 
Summary: A Modern Masterpiece
Review: Ocassionally, you read a book that becomes a part of you and stays with you long after you have put it down. David James Duncan has created nothing less than a tangible experience of reading. You will read countless glowing reviews, but the best thing you may do is read this contemporary classic for yourself. You will find yourself making references to your friends and family about characters like Gus, Titus, Eddie and even a dog named Descartes. You will laugh and cry with characters that become people, because of an author that writes as tenderly and sensitively as the river flows.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, but its own glibness kills it
Review: It's obvious that Duncan was greatly influenced by Tom Robbins. He quotes Robbins several times, but more than that, his writing possesses the same strengths and falls victim to the same weaknesses that Robbins' writing does. There is a remarkable and lyrical prose style here, and a precious sense of humor, but in the end, Duncan's wit and his clever epigrams push the story and the philosophy behind the story into a second place position. Duncan's explication of his philosophy is delivered in a cute anecdotal manner that makes it sound very pleasant but provides very little substance. The same can be said of the characters, who are amusing (I laughed aloud several times) but have little or no motivation for their development. It is all very pretty and fun, but it is certainly not one for the ages.
Rating:
Summary: Well Written, But Not My Cup of Tea
Review: Duncan does a nice job of wording his thoughts in this book. I was forced to read this for an unwanted fishing class and the fishing thing gets annoying after awhile. If this had less fishing and more soul searching, I might have liked it more. I apologize to the sick cult that likes this book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best.
Review: I have never read a book more than twice other than The River Why. Since reading it for the first time about 10 years ago I have read it about once a year and see something different every time. I thank the author for his work, it is no minor fluff in any way. Gus was and is me, he loves the same things I do, wild rivers, wild fish, and glumness. Many times over the years I have had questions answered or formed by the tale. Friendships have formed in my life with conversations of the stories and people that Duncan created. Thanks
Rating: 
Summary: Funny and Wise
Review: It's been a long time since I found myself so amused and yet so moved by a story. Has there ever been a character like Bill-Bob? I was so captured by the explanation of the "Garden Angels" that when I finished the chapter, I went back to the start and read it again. The initial, multi-threaded conversation between Titus and Gus is a masterpiece, and shows that Duncan is truly someone who loves the language. Of course, I fell in love with Eddy. Who wouldn't? The penultimate chapter in which Gus follows his catch upstream is one of the most original visions of our relationship with God I have read in a long time. This one will stay with me.
Rating:
Summary: "WHY?!"... because Duncan says so
Review: What a beautiful, beautiful book. I absolutely loved Duncan's humor and wisdom in the novel. I have never read an author who writes anything like him. I think I'll remember some of his subplots for a long time to come. Dreefees, Hemingway, Bill Bob, H20, and Descartes to name a few. This novel is easily one of my Top Ten favorites. Next up: The Brother's K...
Rating:
Summary: In one line? Not possible
Review: It was first read to me by my 11th grade Chemistry teacher. Although it had nothing to do with chemistry, it contained some of the most valuable things I ever learned in that class. Clearly I am no chemist, and I am no fisherman either. But the book is not about fishing, it is about life, and that is the most important lesson of all.
Rating:
Summary: In one line? Not possible
Review: It was first read to me by my 11th grade Chemistry teacher. Although it had nothign to do with chemistry, it contained some of the most valuable things I ever learned in that class. Clearly I am no chemist, and I am no fisherman either. But the book is not about fishing, it is about life, and that is the most important lesson of all.
Rating:
Summary: It has taken me over twenty years to re-find this book
Review: I first read this book as a teenager in the mid-70's and it has haunted me ever since.For some reason it was unavailable from my public library in Clapham, south London, but I always remembered reading it one summer in Lancashire over twenty years ago. I have rediscovered it today, via Amazon, and I am going to order it immediately. It is a seminal work - an example of great American literature.
Rating:
Summary: I can't write a one-line summary of this book
Review: This is the only book that I've ever read that, when finished, I immediately started over and read it again. The book is about fishing. Having said that, I should add that it's the funniest thing I ever read. It's also deadly serious. It's a metaphysical journey that has to be read to be appreciated. I knew when I sat down to write this that I couldn't do it justice but I'm plowing ahead in the hope that my comments will get someone else to read it. I was so taken by it that I've read everything else Duncan has written. He's a powerful voice for the natural world. More than that, he's a poet for all of us. I seem to remember that this is the first work of fiction that Sierra Club published. That alone said much. Last I heard Duncan was living in Montana fighting the good fight against mining ruining the Big Blackfoot River. Buy the book. It might help finance his river-saving ventures.
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