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Devoting your life to fishing
The book brings together texts in which the author recounts his fishing trips across America, from the West to the great trout rivers, as well as the colorful characters who populate this milieu: fishing friends, guides, originals, old bank sages. Through these amusing and melancholy anecdotes, Gierach examines what it means to devote oneâ??s life to fishing: the relationship with time, work, nature and the (often futile) quest for the â??perfectâ? fish.âeuros
The famous title comes from an adage that Gierach takes up and twists: all fishermen embellish their stories, but these exaggerations above all speak of the share of dream, memory and subjectivity contained in every day spent by the water. The tone alternates between gentle irony, precise observation of gestures and places, and deeper reflections on solitude, friendship, old age or death, always based on very concrete situations experienced rod in hand.âeuros
For all passionate anglers
As is so often the case with Gallmeister, this book emphasizes the "nature writing" dimension: reading Gierach is as much about following fishing scenes as it is about entering into a sensitive relationship with the landscapes, seasons and ecosystems of North American rivers. The book is as much for fly-fishing enthusiasts, who will find in it technical details and family atmospheres, as for readers curious about a contemplative, funny and very human literature of the outdoors.
Extract
"In the end, you fish as much as you want and sometimes even a little more. You start telling people: 'I have to go fishing; it's my job. In your mouth, it's not really a joke, but you know that's how people will understand it."
This passage illustrates the tone of humor, philosophy and passion that runs through the entire book, as Gierach reflects on what it means to live one's passion for fly fishing to the full, despite its paradoxes and hazards.
All fishermen are liars
- Author : John Gierach
- Publication date: November 2025
- Number of pages: 302
- Price: ?22.90
- Publisher: Gallmeister
