Softcover (0.9 lbs) More Information: Brilliant, witty, perceptive essays about fly-fishing, the natural world, and life in general by the acknowledged master of fishing writers.For the first time, two of John Gierach&&';;s most popular fishing books are collected in one volume-a double dose of delight for longtime fans or first-time visitors to Gierach country.As Gierach astutely observes in Dances with Trout, "Fly-fishing is solitary, contemplative, misanthropic, scientific in some hands, poetic in others, and laced with conflicting aesthetic considerations. It&&';;s not even clear if catching fish is actually the point." This observation might also describe Gierach&&';;s writing-catching fish might be the subject, but most of the fun and (mis)adventure comes well before that point. Whether it&&';;s fishing close to home waters (Colorado) or farther afield (Alaska, Scotland, Texas); ice-fishing, tournament fishing, or night fishing; fishing for trout, salmon, carp, splake, or grayling; fishing with familiar companions like A.K. Best or the enigmatic "Zen master among fishing guides"; no detail of the fishing life is too insignificant or too absurd for Gierach.As he writes in Another Lousy Day in Paradise, "The real truth about fly-fishing is, it is beautiful beyond description in almost every way, and when a certain kind of person is confronted with a certain kind of beauty, they are either saved or ruined for life, or a little bit of both." So start reading and be saved-or ruined-by Gierach&&';;s wonderful insights into the world around us. ABOUT THE AUTHORJohn Gierach is the author of several previous books, most recently Standing in a River Waving a Stick. He has written for Field & Stream, Fly Fisherman, and Fly, Rod & Reel, among other publications. He lives in Lyons, Colorado.