Mr. Gierach has published another fine compilation of his marvelous short stories. The craft of writing is never easy and crafting short stories is far more difficult than blathering on for page after page in a mighty tome.I could easily read this in an hour or two, but I'm reading these stories one-at-a-time because I want to enjoy each new story in its own space. I guess I'm savoring this book as if it was some fine wine or a great pastry...you simply don't gulp it down.
Thanks again for your fine writing, Mr. Gierach. The art of writing short fly fishing stories is a difficult one to master and Mr. Prosek, Mr. Leeson, Ms. Proulx, Mr. Luce, Mr. Babb, Mr. Proper, Mr. McGuane and Nick and Mari Lyons have all made the grade. I won't try to rank any of these fine contemporary authors (though Mr. Prosek's watercolors and Mari Lyons' illustrations (not all watercolors) add a fine edge to the text in their works).
Mr. McGuane notes on the slipcover that Mr. Gierach out fished him the last time they were on the stream together and that he would have been willing to give Mr. Gierach faint praise (if only to even the score), but Mr. McGuane - an honest fisherman (apologies to Sparse) - correctly rates the quality of this fine work (who would put a bad review on the slipcover, anyway?).
I own all of Mr. Gierach's works and this is one of his best. Literate, humorous, and a nice guide for those of us who are a bit younger . . .we can see how a little more living helps hone an individual's perception of the important things in life.
