Lines on the Water: A Fly Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi

By David Adams Richards

Anyone who has ever tied a blood knot in a leader or spun a line on the reel, felt the tug of a salmon or seen the glimmer of a brook trout in the early morning sun, understands that fishing is more than a sport. It is, for many, a way of life. In Lines on the Water, we are reminded why this is so. Writing with the same mastery that has won him praise for his fiction, Richards takes useven those unfamiliar with days spent in chilly waterson an unforgettable journey to the famed Miramichi River. Casting new light on the mysterious and elegant world of fly fishing, it teems with lore and wisdom, humor, and most of all, passion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Release date: Feb 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781626367210

David Adams Richards

David Adams Richards is a resident of Fredericton and is one of only three Canadian writers who have won Governor General's Awards for Fiction and Non-Fiction. His novel Mercy Among the Children won the 2000 Giller Prize, while his most recent novel, Incidents in the Life of Marcus Paul, won the 2012 Thomas H. Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award.

Reviews for Lines on the Water

[ten_floors_up · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I picked this up as a sale/discard item from my local library and it just sat in a pile of similar items until I picked it up a few days ago. I wish I'd taken the trouble to read it before now. The author's stamping-ground is thousand of miles away from mine, and many of his fishing methods and experiences are also many miles away from my own, metaphorically speaking. However, it certainly struck a chord once I gave it my attention. As a previous reviewer has said, it also has potential to appeal to a more general reader.The more philosophically-minded angler will probably find parallels with their own experiences, thoughts and motivations, while the general reader may gain some insight into an angler's mindset, and how it can evolve.A brief footnote: according to the circulation-sheet inside the book, this copy was loaned just three times during a shelf-life of seven years. Why did I choose to pass it by when it was on the shelves I was scanning regularly?

[patl_53 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful, languid prose, and yet far from stereotypical fartsy crap one too often finds in this subject. I will read more from this author.