posted on Dec 30
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
The title was taken from another writer’s spoof on meditative fly-fishing tomes, a group this amusing book certainly is not among. Checchio (A Clean, Well-Lighted Stream) simply appreciates the straightforward angling pleasures available near streams where game fish thrive and writes unpretentiously about his experiences on a variety of scenic waterways. Along the way, he describes the majestic views, fish he has caught and released, nature in general, environmental concerns, and numerous quirky characters that have crossed his path. It’s all done with an enviable sense of humor that might come easily to a guy who gave up a steady job in 1988 so that he could “fish his brains out.” Drawn primarily from outdoors magazines, the essays range from tales of fly-fishing for trout on legendary rivers such as Wyoming’s Firehole and Idaho’s Snake to the author’s discovery of steelhead thrills on Oregon’s Umpqua and Washington’s Kalama. A charming but optional purchase for most public libraries. Will Hepfer, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Checchio, a former Atlantic City crime reporter, describes how he gave up his job to move to the West and go trout fishing. A self-taught fly fisherman, Checchio tired of New Jersey rivers and felt the lure of the great western trout streams: the North Umpqua, Henry’s Fork, Silver Creek, Hat Creek, and the McCloud River. He captures the magnificence of these rivers and streams vividly, although in the process he seriously undervalues trout fishing in the East. The first half of the book wanders somewhat awkwardly between angling how-to book and memoir, but Checchio hits his stride midway, seamlessly mixing accounts of his adventures in the West with both the history of the various rivers and some intriguing sketches of westerners such as William Randolph Hearst and Zane Grey. Writing with the same poetry and perception that characterized his earlier Clean Well-Lighted Stream (1995), Checchio carves a spot on the river for himself beside such premier angling memoirists as Bill Barich, Nick Lyons, and William Plummer. John Rowen
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