John Gierach’s Latest Due May 6: Tour Dates Listed on FR&R Site
By Tom Chandler on Apr 21, 2008 in News
John Gierach’s about to push his 16th book out the door, and he’s supporting it with a limited book tour.
If you’re one of the lucky few who lives near the right city (the tour touches down in Colorado, Oregon and Washington, with a trip to Orvis in Vermont), then consider making plans to see fly fishing’s most popular writer.
It seems like a lifetime’s passed since I first read Gierach’s Trout Bum (late 1980s), and in one sense, it was a lifetime ago.
Back then, I lived in the kill-or-be-killed Silicon Valley, and today I live minutes from good trout water in a sparsely populated rural county.
I won’t pretend Gierach’s wholly responsible, but yeah, his books did suggest there was an alternative to slowly growing heavier, angrier and more desperate in the grip of "civilization," and though I didn’t make a play for the whole trout bum lifestyle, I worked things out well enough to get a little chunk of it.
My favorite Gierach book? The answer varies almost hourly, but I seem to keep returning to Even Brook Trout Gets the Blues, mostly for the title essay.
What about the Undergrounders? Can you pick a favorite Gierach title?
See you at the bookshelves, Tom Chandler.
hawgdaddy | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
I’m stuck in the South’s very own version of Silicon Valley, the Huntsville metro area in Alabama, and I’m in the early stages of making my plans for escape from this lifestyle. Like you, I can’t say Gierach is responsible for the urge, but his books certainly resonated when I happened upon them. As for a favorite, I still have to go with Trout Bum. I don’t think it’s the best written or most meaningful or the cleverest of his books, but it’s the one I feel most at home with. I look forward to Fool’s Paradise. Take care,
hawgdaddy
mike | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
Well I’ve enjoyed all of the books I’ve read, and he really does come out with some terrific one liners. I suppose Trout Bum has a special place though because it’s also the first one I read. The nymphing essay is just wonderful.
Tom Chandler | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
Hawg: I wasn’t married when I bolted (though it did cost me a relationship). That way, moving to the mountains and buying a Man Cave kind of house was a lot easier.
Mike: I think Gierach’s a misleadingly folksy writer; some have complained that he’s writing a lot of “Me and Joe” fishing stories, but there’s a lot more going on in his essays.
His writing’s so straightforward and accessible, I think a lot of folks miss the depth.
After all, anything done truly well looks simple, but in the case of Gierach, I think it’s deceptive.
hawgdaddy | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
Tom,
Doh!! Too late for me there. Luckily, my lovely wife is of the same mind. Sort of. What I mean is, well, she wants to be a pirate. But I’ve convinced her that fly fishing is very nearly the modern equivalent, and for the time being she’s believing me. Although she’s currently more interested in painting fly fishing scenes as opposed to fly fishing itself. Regardless, we both want out of this.
“After all, anything done truly well looks simple, but in the case of Gierach, I think it’s deceptive.”
Excellent! Very true! Take care,
hawgdaddy
Kentucky Jim | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
Nymphing Essay, as Mike said, takes the top spot.
Eduardo Sanchez | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
16th book. WOW!! Incredible! To bad that here I can not get those books.
Tom Chandler | Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
Hawg: Good luck. I guess we’re all just one winning lottery ticket away from our new lives… 8-)
Euardo: No translated versions?
Beaverkill | Apr 22, 2008 | Reply
The View from Rat Lake is my personal favorite…Flyfishing Small Streams is also a good read..Part instructional, part story teller…I believe I have about a dozen of his books, I dont think I have anything after Grave of the Unknown, I will have to check out his latest…Manchester is a bit of a ride, especially when Hendricksons will be on the Delaware..
Jeffrey Prest | May 2, 2008 | Reply
‘Sex, Death and Flyfishing’ - because as titles go it hints at depth and a certain other-worldly quality in the reader.
Not one but two attractive women have started conversations with me on train journeys because they were intrigued by this title, which is a damn sight more than I can say for ‘Catch 22′.
Tom Chandler | May 2, 2008 | Reply
Beaver: I agree — Gierach’s “How To” titles tend to surpass the others for their readability, though I admit to wishing he’d done a little more research for his bamboo effort.
Jeffrey: And just think — a Gierach book is a hell of a lot easier to carry along than a baby or a dog (the single guy’s two sure-fire chick magnets). Your contribution to the fly fishing world has been noted.