Rating: 
Summary: Rough and preachy in spots but well-paced and interesting.
Review: McPhee is an author who commonly takes uncommon topics (Geology and other "dry" subjects) and makes them into readable literary works. Some are very good and some aren't. Personally, I found his last prize-winning book, "Annals of the Former World" hard to read.This book flows much more smoothly. Much of it is simply a book of fishing stories and experiences. As usual with McPhee's writing, many of the best parts are his digressions into the people and personalities he meets up with while studying his subject. His historical take on the importance and influence of the shad is interesting and well-researched. He goes back to some of the primary sources and traces the evolution of legend nicely. McPhee is also an under-rated humorist. Much of his story-telling is really funny and he is clearly sympathetic with the foibles of the people he describes. This book has a few weaknesses. First of all, unless you are interested in Natural History or Fishing, you probably would lose interest in this book. As someone with a Graduate Degree in Aquatic Ecology, I loved the science and the scientific characters in this book. I think others might not be so entertained, though. Secondly, the Animal Rights and Saving the World through politically-correct (but poorly researched) gestures dilutes the pleasure of learning about the shad, McPhee and his companions. Overall pretty good, and I enjoyed reading it with the reservations I noted above.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent reading from beginning to end
Review: Pulitzer Prize winning John McPhee provides a wonderful saga of his love affair with the American shad in "The Founding Fish". He masterfully draws the reader into this love affair and into the minds of those who pursue the shad. He reveals how the shad played important roles in American history and economics including roles in the lives of such historical figures as George Washington, General Pickett, and John Wilkes Booth. Through masterful writing McPhee deepens our understanding of the shad and shad afficianados with detailed visits with a fish behaviorist, master shad dart maker and similar professionals. With McPhee we learn to appreciate the fish as well as the hunt, we learn to stand is awe of those that are truly proficient at catching the shad, and even thrill in the pleasure of the catch. Easy reading that artfully takes the reader into the mind of those who would wait all year for a few weeks of opportunity to seek and catch the American shad. It is truly a wonderful piece of prose that is so well written that even those who do not engage in the art of fishing find the book a fascinating read. A highly recommended read and a fine example of one of the most engaging writing styles today.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading from beginning to end
Review: Pulitzer Prize winning John McPhee provides a wonderful saga of his love affair with the American shad in "The Founding Fish". He masterfully draws the reader into this love affair and into the minds of those who pursue the shad. He reveals how the shad played important roles in American history and economics including roles in the lives of such historical figures as George Washington, General Pickett, and John Wilkes Booth. Through masterful writing McPhee deepens our understanding of the shad and shad afficianados with detailed visits with a fish behaviorist, master shad dart maker and similar professionals. With McPhee we learn to appreciate the fish as well as the hunt, we learn to stand is awe of those that are truly proficient at catching the shad, and even thrill in the pleasure of the catch. Easy reading that artfully takes the reader into the mind of those who would wait all year for a few weeks of opportunity to seek and catch the American shad. It is truly a wonderful piece of prose that is so well written that even those who do not engage in the art of fishing find the book a fascinating read. A highly recommended read and a fine example of one of the most engaging writing styles today.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Fish Story
Review: The Founding Fish does what only a few books do well, take an obscure topic, look at it from every angle and still maintain the reader's interest from cover to cover. Who'd've thought that there was a whole book waiting to be written about the shad and people who care about it? McPhee's style makes for easy reading and his eye for detail and for the interesting approach is fun. The book will carry you off to sleep for several nights, or keep you entertained all the way across the country at 35,000ft.
Rating:
Summary: The Dean of American Non-Fiction Writers
Review: There's a review on the cover of McPhee's "Oranges" that says (and I am probably paraphrasing heavily), "You put down this book, and say to yourself, my God, I've just read 220 pages about oranges..." And that, in a nutshell, is what McPhee is all about. His writing is so exellent, his reporting so good, that he can find the story worth telling in just about any subject. McPhee has, for many year, defined great non-fiction writing, and indeed it's hard to read other fine writers like Tracy Kidder without seeing the mark of McPhee in their style. I have a shelf in one of my larger bookcase that contains nothing but McPhee- books on geography, the Swiss Army, the Merchant Marine, Alaska, the headmaster of a private school.. and yes, oranges. And every one is an absolutely riveting read, whatever the topic. "Founding Fish" is no exception. As he does in many of his books, McPhee deftly mixes history, contemporary reporting, profiles and personal narrative in a way that's both seamless and endlessly fascinating. If you haven't read McPhee, and you enjoy great reporting, you owe it to yourself to buy this volume- or, for that matter, any book by McPhee.
Rating:
Summary: A revealing, intriguing coverage
Review: This blends personal, natural and American history and will prove hard to easily categorize, but provides a fine account of a shad fisherman's obsession, fish research, and insights. This is more than a fishing book: McPhee fishes with and visits the labs of ichthyologists and learns about shad in-depth in his pursuit of the game. A revealing, intriguing coverage.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe McPhee is not so good a writer?
Review: Well, I hate to burst your bubble, because I like McPhee, but his latest effort seems to be trying to hit the sweet spot in the American public by using a sixth grade vocabulary. Also, the English language seems to be becoming more and more passive tense oriented and nounish in sentence structure (not unlike this sentence has become). Where is the active voice? That's why I like foreign languages better. You can write a sentence in Latin like: delendam esse Carthaginem (simple and direct). Anyhoo, like people who think high culture is going to Las Vegas, I doubt anybody agrees with what I have to say (there's that passive voice again).
Rating: 
Summary: Rambling, poorly written, dull and didactic
Review: What a disappointment! What a mess. A few interesting tidbits here and there but mostly just poorly worded ramblings. I could do without the animal rights lecture also; it was fraught with the baseless anthropomorphisms so commonly tossed into the ring by those too lazy to actually do any research of their own. Furthermore, anyone who takes hours to land a 5 lb. fish has no right to claim any high ground on animal rights. Look in the mirror Mr. McPhee and you'll see someone who "plays" with his food! But really, it's the writing, or lack thereof, in this book that makes it one of the worst I have read in the past 20 years.
Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: All McPhee all perfect all fabulous.
Review: You can always count on a John McPhee book to be worth your time and money. He is an amazing author in his ability to extract interesting content from just about any topic. I am no Shad angler and this book doesn't make me want to be one, but I am a teacher of environmental policy and this book is one I have recommended to my students in both fisheries policy and water policy. There were large sections of the book I skipped because it seemed a bit over done, but that is a matter of taste. Probably if you are a dedicated angler you will find them interesting.
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