Trout: An Illustrated History (Hardcover)

by James Prosek (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Perhaps no one loves trout as much as James Prosek, who by age 20 journeyed thousands of miles and through 49 states to depict in watercolors all 70 subspecies of North American wild trout at least four times for this definitive volume on the subject. He details the diversity and brilliant range of colors in the species with his paintings, which are accompanied by written snippets, including angling anecdotes, historical sketches and personal reminiscences. At the devastating rate that trout are being lost to hybridization, displacement and extinction, we should be thankful that Prosek's obsession has led to this beautiful document of the species now, before it is too late.

Review
Who knows, if Prosek's passion for fish continues unabated, 100 years from now, anglers may be giving charitable donations to the Prosek Society, as bird watchers now do to the Audubon Society. -- Outdoor Life

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (April 14, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067944453X
• ISBN-13: 978-0679444534
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #131,388 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A picture is worth a thousand or so words, May 29, 1999

By A Customer

Trout fishing is the most enjoyable thing I've ever experienced (yeah, even better than that!) Most of the books on trout lead you to believe that you have to achieve succeedingly higher levels of consciousness through concerted study of stream ecology, purchase of the most expensive equipment available, and years and years of practice and frustration in perfecting your casting skills. I've yet to see a book that simplifies the whole thing and tells you how you can wade into a stream in sneakers and shorts, armed with very little more than your rod, reel, and a few flies, and start catching fish right away.

No, Prosek's book doesn't do any of that, but it hints at the essential simplicity of trout fishing. The illustrations are riveting and serve well as reference plates. The commentary is blessedly sparse and gets to the point. It's a truly beautiful book and an obvious labor of love. Since so much literary claptrap surrounds fly fishing, I would have to compare most books on the subject to "Ulysses", while Prosek has produced a haiku that couples art and science. (I'm about to gag at my own literary allusion!)

If you want to get into the trout and fly obsession, buy this book for inspiration. Then, I guess I'll just have to write that book about cut-rate, simplified fly fishing as your next step!

35 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable, but the accuracy..., February 7, 2001

By	Steve (Iqaluit, NU, Canada) - See all my reviews

After reading the reviews on this one I was just giddy with anticipation when it arrived. Any book on fish or fishing is a good one, and this one promised to be very good.

I don't read new books front to back - I browse at first, and flipped through "Trout", very impressed with the number of species and the marvellous illustrations. Then I went to Brook Trout - the fish of my youth, and still the one nearest and dearest my heart. Very good illustration and text.

I then went to the front and started through, and as fate would have it the Arctic Char was first up. That's when I started to worry. You see, I live in the Canadian Arctic, and have seen lots of Arctic Char - literally tens of thousands. I've studied them, fished them, eaten them, read about them, and learned about them. I am no "expert", but I know a few things.

Th fact of the matter is that from reading the text accompanying the illustration of the Arctic Charr, it is obvious that Prosek knows little of them. For example, he writes, "Eskimos cut a hole in a lake through ten feet of ice, fishing with a piece of seal meat on an ivory hook." Do tell. It gets better with, "In summer when the rivers run free, they catch them in nets made of Musk-ox or caribou sinew." Really. That stuff would have been half truths two centuries ago - today it is just plain wrong.

Those lines are tourist fiction reminiscent of the hogwash written by the early arctic explorers who, after a trip up north, could return home and write any mix of truth and fiction they wanted - because nobody knew any better.

That's my problem with the book. He knows little of Arctic Char, but proceeded anyway to write an inaccurate text - without the qualifier - "by the way I don't really know this, somebody told me and I didn't have time to check it out". Thinking what? Nobody would notice?

It's the other species in the book that worry me now - the odd, rare, and primarily western ones I have not had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with. Is that stuff accurate?

Still a great and very enjoyable book, and I recommend it to anyone who loves (okay, likes) trout. Enjoy the illustrations - just don't count on the information without checking it out.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The eye of the beholder., August 29, 2006

By	Dennis C. Propson (Rochester, Mi. United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book will be different things to different people.

I can't speak to the accuracy of the text as one critic has but I will say that I learned a few interesting things.

As a hobbiest illustrator and amature artist, I do appreciate the excellent work of the young trout enthusiast and author. I would not consider the comments of our friend the "scientific illustrator" who claims, "On my first attempts at color, i could easily do that kind of work." Well said. I eagerly await your comments on Picasso's "bicycle parts".

This book is not a masterpiece but a work of art. I don't believe it to profess to be the definitive word on trout, yet it offers some interesting tidbits.

Most of all this book resides in the place that borders two wonderful worlds; that of trout and that of art. For those who are intrigued by either world, this book will make a very welcomed addition to your library. For those of us captivated by both worlds, this book is an absolute must.