The River Why, Twentieth-Anniversary Edition

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Summary: Buy this book.
Review: I work in a bookstore and I read 4-6 books a week. I read this book several years ago and it was great. Recently, I read it again and it was even better. I believe anyone who likes good narative stories will like his other works as well. Do yourself a favor and buy this book.

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Summary: The way I would like to live...
Review: I was living in Jakarta, Indonesia a few years ago when this book was nominated as a selection for the following year's book group discussion list. I shouldn't be telling you this, but we had to get photocopies of the one book owned by a group member so we could all have our own copies to read. I read the book with great delight. Because I was living in a tropical place, the descriptions made me even more homesick than usual for the good old USA and fly fishing in the Snowy Range of southeastern Wyoming where I was taught by my husband's cousin. I have since rectified my crime of book pirating by buying several copies to pass on to people who need it. I still have my old "Xerox" copy though. It will have to be pried from my cold, dead fingers when I finally, and irrevokably, go to the beautiful River Why in the sky to fly fish and dream through eternity.

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Summary: I read this book once a year, and give it as a gift often...
Review: I first read this book as an assignment when i was on my way across country to school in the mountains of oregon. Riding a greyhound bus, reading about fly fishing, i found myself in a whole different world. Duncan is capable of writing such a visual tale, and transporting readers to a time and place they may never have imagined themselves. I thought I was the one getting chased by the dog, or planning the perfect fishing life, or watching my younger brother ponder his knot of wood... I fell in love with all the characters, and think this would make a super movie if done correctly.

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Summary: I encountered life
Review: This may be the most meaningful novel I have ever read. Duncan's book takes the reader into a deeply touching world of ecology, wit, Spirit, desire and fish. Lots of fish. While I could heave accolades on the author's fabulous dialogues and descriptions or the level of character development, all of that would be to miss, what was to me, the greatest quality of the book. Duncan takes the reader into the searchings (and findings- kind of) of one Oregon soul. The reader will not only laugh, cry and ponder... the sensitive reader will travel with Gus Orviston and encounter life and vibrancy too scarce in our world. It is a transforming book. Read it. Read it on your knees. Read it while dancing. Read it sailing. Read this book.

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Summary: My favorite book, Duncan is phenomenal!
Review: Duncan is probably the greatest author of our time. This book and The Brothers K are the two most feeling novels I have ever read.

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Summary: My all-time favorite
Review: I read a book a week and The River Why made the most lasting and fantastic impression on me. This is a wonderful book for the "philosophical flyfisherman". Order it, read it

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Summary: A Good Read When You're Asking Why
Review: The River Why was the kind of book that I didn't know how much I would love until I finished it. I read this book durring a time of personal crisis (death in the family) and was amazed at how I empathized with the main character as he searched for meaning. Reminds me a lot of the way I felt after finishing Sidartha.

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Summary: THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ!
Review: I repeat, THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ

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Summary: A life-changing book (for me, at least)
Review: My fiancee gave me a copy of this book. I started to read it, got to about the fourth or fifth chapter and then put it down. Months later, I picked it back up again, knowing then that I was ready to read it all the way through. You have to be spiritually ready for this book. When I got to the "Line of Light" chapter at the end, tears welled in my eyes, and I knew my life had changed. With that chapter, Duncan put into words what I'd always felt, but never knew how to articulate. I *know* now, in a way I never quite have before, that I am *always* held by God, which is a life-changing knowledge. This book, amidst the fishing details, contains that kind of wisdom. If you're not into fishing, don't let that turn you off right away. Be patient with this book, stick with it, and keep an open mind. It's all a grand and beautiful metaphor. Duncan has masterfully rendered it

Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I Ever Read!
Review: I keep several copies of The River Why on hand to give away to friends because loaned copies are never returned. My best friend in college (a philosophy major) introduced me to this book and have never been without a copy since (ten years and counting....) Duncan's development of characters is so thorough, you will feel for and identify with each of them in some fashion. They will grab you from the beginning and never let go, tugging your emotions along the way. Once begun, this gem is impossible to put down