Customer Reviews

Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales: Expert Fly Anglers Share Stories from the Sea and Stream

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2 star:		(3)
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If you want a book stuffed full of great fishing stories I would recommend the Chicken Soup For The Fisherman's Soul, or anything by John Gierach. I don't recall any of the stories being more than just a short story on a fishing trip. I need soul. I need meaning. I need to learn something new in a short story about fly fishing. Dame Juliana Berners would have been a little disappointed as well.

This book was beautifully bound and the photography often displayed the panoramic views we so much enjoy. Unfortunately, the tales, although somewhat enjoyable, was average at best.

The author's biography begins, "Chris Santella is a freelance writer, marketing consultant, and avid fly fisherman...". The emphasis here should be on the marketing consultant aspect of his background, not the writer or the fisherman.

Santella's original book, Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, was a pleasing enough coffee table tome, stylishly packaged, replete with stunning photos, and an interesting narrative to accompany it all. Clever marketing has morphed the formula into a series of not less that nine "Fifty" volumes, including places to dive, golf (two books), bird, sail, etc.

And as the business model grew, along came Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales.

They would have been better left untold.

You're not too far into it when you realize that this is a product, not a book. It looks and feels like Fifty Places, but without the interest and surprisingly with very few images. The stories themselves range from mundane to mildly interesting at best. A low point is certainly "Nature's Call", dealing with David Foster's encounter with a bear while relieving himself on a fishing trip in Alaska.

Oh well.

Anyway, trust me. This is not one of the fifty books you have to read before you die.

This book is an eclectic mix of stories from all types of flyfishers that are not always about the fishing. The authors share stories about people and life with a fishing trip as the backdrop. Stories are well organised and all follow a formulaic pattern which doesn't formularise too much the works as they are all so varied in content. While most stories are American based the geography covered is remarkable and the story's thematic concerns are universally relevant. A great read for those short on time. Read one of the fifty, put the book down and come back later. A great read for lovers of fishing and life.

This was really a fun and insightful book to read. After reading this book you want to get up and go fishing. It really makes you appreciate the sport of fishing. It is well worth the price and the time to read.