On the Spine of Time [Paperback]

Harry Middleton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1997

The entrancing new work by Harry Middleton, the author of the popular The Earth Is Enough. This is a fisherman's appreciation of the wonderfully wild Great Smoky Mountains which straddle the Tennessee-North Carolina border, and includes lyrical accounts of eccentric people, evanescent landscapes and unexpected climates among the permanence of the mountains.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Harry Middleton had to endure hardships to find the queen mother of all trout streams in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. He had to live through treacherous mountain roads, the cloud of airborne industrial toxins that shrouds the range for most of the year, an occasional blast of lightning, and, worst of all, a helping of rancid potato salad at a roadside diner. Like Norman MacLean in A River Runs Through It, Middleton makes fly-fishing a religion with its own vision of nirvana, and if it takes an occasional descent into the nether regions to attain it, the author isn't afraid to supply the grisly details. This graceful, funny memoir belongs in every angler's library.

Review

A nourishing, often eloquent book by nature writer Middleton (The Earth Is Enough, 1989), which brings to bubbling life the wonderful characters and streams he encounters in the majestic Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Along the way he does a little fishing. "Angling is simply the best excuse. . .for investing as much time as possible in the mountains," writes Middleton. The actual fishing lore here is minimal; the emphasis is on the odd assortment of people, the natural and local history, and the ecology and imperiled beauty of the region. Once, along the banks of the Oconaluftee River, deliriously ill from food poisoning, Middleton was rescued by Exie Sopwith, a mountain woman who claimed to cure a "cough by eating little bits of spiderwebbing rolled into tiny balls." Though he cherishes solitude in the blue, cathedral-like Smokies, he also shares water with a fly-fishing fanatic, a Wall Street executive who attends A.A. meetings because he enjoys making contact with "other troubled human beings." Then there's Ambrose Noel, who wanders Hazel Creek with a prayer wheel, chanting an old Doors song; a young Cherokee who tells him, "You get education, jobs, housing. . . and we get our own trout water. Fair's fair"; Arby Mulligan, a self-styled John the Baptist who, as a practicing phrenologist, carries calipers and a rule, and heads the Owl Creek Gap Church of Universal Harmony. The descriptions of forest and rivers and the national park system in the 800-square-mile region include all the numbers - 50 species of mammals, 200 resident species of birds, 70 Species of fish, "more species of trees than in all Europe" - but are also touched with a resonance that brings to the writing something approaching poetry. A book to savor and to linger over. (Kirkus Reviews)

In "In On the Spine of Time, Harry Middleton takes the reader on an unforgettable fishing trip, full of quirky characters, magical streams, and the unique moods of ancient mountains and their hidden world. This book measures up to the extraordinary country it chronicles. -- Paul Schullery, author of Mountain Time and Searching for Yellowstone

Middleton has the novelist's skill at drawing characters; he has that old Southern storyteller's ear for language; above all he has a sense of humor. This is a splendid book in every respect. -- Page Stegner, author of Islands of the West

Middleton's writings and reflections summon a deeper and more profound respect for the essential role that wilderness and mountains play on the human psyche. Populated with eccentric and engaging characters, Middleton recalls his encounters with humor and alongside his stirring depictions of the Smoky's scenic vistas and the wild places provide the solace of mountain streams, fast watertrout hooked and trout lost. On the Spine of Time will delight and engage anyone who ever held a pole in hand while hip deep in a pleasant stream while matching wits with a wily trout. --Reviewers Bookwatch/The Midwest Book Review, February 1998 --Reviewers Bookwatch/The Midwest Book Review, February 1998

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Pruett Publishing (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871088924
• ISBN-13: 978-0871088925
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #485,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I Am Haunted By Waters.", December 5, 1999

By 

Wayne Beavers (Nashville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Spine of Time (Paperback)

If you recognize with reverence this closing passage from Norman Maclean's classic "A River Runs Through It", you will equally treasure "On The Spine Of Time". It is a story of finding one's self in the beauty and solitude of the mountain streams of the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. The stories are as much about the history of the area as they are about the experiences of one man as he seeks retreat from the trauma of everyday life in the city. It is a book you will read over and over. In decades of reading outdoor stories I have only found two other books that are as beautiful as this one. The first and greatest has to be Maclean's masterpiece from which I stole the title for this review. The other is John Hersey's "Blues". I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smoky Mountain Treasure, January 9, 2004

By 

Gregg Perez "Goyo" (Tecumseh, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On the Spine of Time (Paperback)

I love the Smoky Mountains. This book captures the magic of these mountains perfectly. This is one of those books that I couldn't stop reading. I've hiked the Appalachian Trail through the Smoky Mountains and tasted the mountains intimately as Middleton did. His descriptions of the scenery are right on the money. The characters he meets and acquaints himself with are exactly the kind of people one meets while traversing the back country in the Smoky Mountains. I loved this book for the colorful characters Middleton describes. But, there is a whole lot more to the Smokies and it's all told. The geography, the invasive insects, toxic air, Cherokee Indians, founders of the park, and a whole lot more are part of his story, in addition to the subject of fly fishing. If you love the Smoky Mountains like I do you're going to love this book. If you have never been to the Smoky Mountains you're going to want to go after reading "On the Spine of Time". Also, if you like this book, and you enjoy the characters as much as I did, then I suggest you also read the book, "A Walk In the Woods", by Bill Bryson.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fisherman's Treasure To Read, October 31, 2008

By 

David E. Smith (Summit, MS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the Spine of Time (Paperback)

This book is about two of my most beloved things- the Smoky Mountains and fishing the streams of them. Sit back and relax while reading this book and let your mind and thoughts be with the author as he bring you into the world of wonderment and splendor that is the Great Smoky Mountains. His descriptive narration of the nature and beauty that surrounds him through his angling expeditions can only be experienced through the depth of one's own mind's eye. This is not imagination but, in fact, a reality that can only be truly experienced first hand. A truly great book for sitting back and getting away from it all and going back in time to one's own relative thoughts and experiences of familiarity.