Fool's Paradise

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Fishermen everywhere will understand Gierach's quest to discover and explore new waters (and then not to divulge the best locations to anyone), the unlikely appeal of winter fly-fishing ("the ice fishing shanty served the dual purpose of group therapy and the neighborhood tavern"), how impossible it is to predict the best fishing ("Everything that happens is entirely familiar, but I don't always see it coming"), or even the absurdity of the entire exercise ("day after day, you're casting a fly that doesn't look like anything to fish that aren't hungry and may not even be there"). Braving trips on small prop planes and down "Oh-My-God" roads alike, Gierach and his fishing buddies pursue bull trout in British Columbia, steelhead in the Rocky Mountains, and pike so fierce that a wise fisherman wears Kevlar gloves for the obligatory trophy photo.

But as with any activity that depends on unspoiled wilderness, change is constant. Gierach sees this happening both in the landscape ("You never get to point at a meadow full of browsing mule deer and say, 'You know, all this was once condos.'") and at lodges that now require guests to sign liability waivers ("[I] had a brief vision of herds of lawyers coursing over the tundra in search of litigation"). Just the same, he is always awed by the experience of nature, or as he puts it: "You're on a lovely, remote wilderness river in the Alaskan backcountry. There are people who would make this trip and not even bring a fishing rod."

Musing on the enduring appeal of fishing, Gierach theorizes, "We're so used to the fake and the packaged that encountering something real can amount to a borderline religious experience." Equal parts fishing lore, philosophy, and great fish stories, Fool's Paradise may not be a perfect substitute for actually being out on the water, but it's surely the next best thing.

What Customers Say About Fool's Paradise:

I have read every one of Gierach's books. It is a human condition.Onto Fool's Paradise. Gierach is guilty of inconsistancy. I love his story about following Papa in his footsteps in Key West. We all are, I guess.

I have done that with Melville, Hemingway, and a few others. Good stuff that life is made of. I think Gierach should move on from his boring fly fishing stories that all start and end the same. If you are thrilled by perfection, go read her six novels.

Honestly though, all great writers are inconsistent, unless you consider Jane Austin. This book reads better with a shotglass and a beer chaser. It was good. I hate to say that, but scotch has done so much for Hemingway, Faulkner, Poe, and other celebrated American writers. and talks about flowers, dirt roads, or Hemingway. I have better things to do.

Too much has been written about flyfishing streams you can't say the name of, and then listing the body count. Lousy fish porn. I have a theory that Gierach is at his best when he is drinking. I once drank a warm beer while kneeling next to Papa's grave. I did a Vulcan mind meld with the cold granite.

We can all find inspiration in great writers.

Enough already.

Arg.

I discovered him at my local library when I came across a copy of "The View from Rat Lake" and have devoured every book he has written since then.

Its getting old.

I guess I am burned out on Gierach's stories that start like "There is this stream, I can't tell you where." and ends with ".and the last trout, the smallest, was 25 inches long." Thats just fish porn.

His best stories in this book are when he gets off his usual beaten track (AK Best this., 23 inch trout that.).

Perhaps his next book should be about politics: Hunting with Sarah Palin, or something like that.

And dare I say it; other writers do it better.

I read everything by this author. If i cant get away to the outdoors for real , he takes me there.

I have spent a lot of time in tents this summer while fishing in Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming. I like his philosophical insight as well as his fishing stories. I take a lantern and Fool's Paradise with me when I turn in. As always, Gierach is great reading, and a chapter a night lets me unwind and get ready for sleep. I think I've read everything Gierach has written, some of it twice in the same manner. It surely beats counting sheep.

As with John's other books this a group of short stories about his fishing trips and friends. I enjoy his books and they keep me entertained until I can get out on a stream. If you are not an avid fly fisher person you may find them boring.

John Gierach can be depended upon to be knowledgeable and entertaining. He really connects with the common experiences of those who enjoy fly fishing and all of its baffling dimensions.