Customer Reviews

Driftless Stories: Outdoors in Southwest Wisconsin

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Billed as a collection of hunting and fishing essays, Motoviloff brings the sights, sounds and smells of the driftless region to life with his vivid prose. While some are straight hunting and fishing tales, most are splendid little vignettes which reveal a telling, almost religious, bond between the author and the places of which he writes. A wonderful little book.

a great book for father's day a. Any outdoors person concerned with nature and balance will love this book.

This is a fantastic book. The only complaint I had was that when I finished reading it I wanted more. It is about the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin. The beauty of the area, it's wildlife and mystique. Written by a man who truly appreciates it.

I believe that the driftless area has some of the prettiest landscape in the world. But it is a beauty that is subtle and in a way masculine. It is very evident in the rock formations and rolling forested hills, but it also hides in the details of small creeks forming numerous miniature waterfalls as they tumble their way to the Mississippi River. John Motoviloof captures all of this in a way that only someone who found the area later in life probably could.

Dan Small, a local outdoor writer says it best in his review of the book. "Spare and rugged, yet rich in detail and meaning, like the special region it takes as it's subject, 'Driftless Stories' is a special book."

The book kept me interested from cover to cover. If you are a c/r person you will NOT like this book. If you believe trout fishing is a blood sport and not golf, you will love this book. These stories remind me of tales my father told me while we were fishing and hunting. I hope John comes out with another very soon.

I sought out this book after reading another piece by John Motoviloff in a magazine. Although I have been visiting northern Wisconsin each fall for the past six years, I was not aware of the unique topography and history of Wisconsin's southwest region. This book visually animated the region for me, and instilled a strong wish in me to see it for myself. He writes of his time there so lovingly that one would have to lack empathy not to feel by proxy some degree of affinity for it. This book will resonate most completely for the hunter or fisherman, but anyone who loves the outdoors can enjoy it. I eagerly await his next effort.

While Motoviloff's book promised to offer insight and wisdom on the unique natural beauty of the Driftless region, it ended up failing in the end. The author claims to understand the area's inhabitants, both human and animal, and the ecosystem they share. However, he also feels the region's natural resources are at his disposal. The entire book, which perhaps might have discussed the delicate balance of plants and animals, consists entirely of hunting and fishing stories, and poorly written ones at that. The book lacks a plot, or even a hint of excitement. It stirred only disgust at his total lack of respect for the land. Motoviloff, who only vacations in the Driftless region, lacks the experience and knowledge that only years of living in the region can give. The region doesn't need another man to harvest its fish or kill its wild game. It needs a conservationist who understands the land and respects it.