I’m Gonna Go Fishing

Surfcaster’s Quest
Roy Rowan

It’s just a fortnight or so past the Feast of St. Stephen,  with sub-zero wind chills and the remnants of a snowstorm lying about less than deep and crisp and even. So, what better time to turn one’s thoughts to fishing?

Allow me to cut to the chase. The present volume offers

Something Fishy

The Last Fish Tale: The Fate of the Atlantic and Survival in Gloucester, America’s Oldest Fishing Port and Most Original Town
Mark Kurlanksy

I can remember looking at the books my mother kept locked in an old oak book case at the foot of the basement stairs and asking her why so many had the same author. Her reply was that when she liked an author she wanted to read everything by them. Which, I think, explains both Literature majors and the way the publishing industry works.

Enter Exhibit A.  I once read an interview with Bill Bryson in which he talked about how his editors tried to dissuade him from his plan to write about the English language. Safire and McNeil do that,