Description:
There's a certain comfort and familiarity that anglers have with their sport. Fishing--unlike, say, football, baseball, or basketball--is solitary and introspective, which contributes to a sporting literature that's intensely personal, certainly adventurous, deeply contemplative, and at times absurdly funny. 100 Years of Fishing understands and celebrates this tradition with such trophy writers as Zane Grey, Ernest Hemingway, Norman MacLean, and Nick Lyons. The anthology is arranged chronologically from the turn of the 20th century to the turn of the 21st, and plies waters as diverse as delicate streams and vast oceans. Former President Grover Cleveland takes the first cast with his 1906 observations on the characteristics that make up a true fisherman (only the equipment seems to have changed), while another former chief exec, Jimmy Carter, waxes sentimental over his first fishing pole. Red Smith gets both misty and wry on a fishing trip with his grandson, fielding the timeless question, "Grandpa, did you grow old or were you made old?" And the irrepressible P.J. O'Rourke provides an antidote to nostalgia with an account of his first misadventure with a fly rod. Complementing the prose are historical photos, artworks, and visual bits of memorabilia, rounding out a compelling look back at 20th-century angling. --Jeff Silverman
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