Catch and Release: Trout Fishing and the Meaning of Life

In Catch and Release, philosopher Mark Kingwell has written a book about fishing, or more accurately, about thinking about fishing that is unlike any book ever penned about this most unique and challenging of sports. This vibrant blend of memoir, travelogue, reflection, and discussion of the finer points of the art is framed around an annual fishing trip that he and his father and two brothers take each year to British Columbia.

Between the drinking, cigars, and the piloting of a small dingy, Kingwell, previously of the belief that“fishing is stupid” finds that the sport does allow for one important thing—quite a bit of time to just think, allowing thoughts to wander and new vistas to open up. This realization—a kind of felicitous meandering and suspension in the delights of the moment—leads Kingwell through everything from falconry, male bonding, and procrastination to golf, cooking, and the relationship between reflection and action—not to mention the relative benefits of wet versus dry flies, the cast, and the ethics of fishing. Ultimately, and as this book engagingly shows, fishing is worth thinking about because of the thinking that fishing allows. Especially when the trout are‛t biting.

"Using a family fishing trip as a catalyst for this memoir, Kingwell reflects on the actions and ideas that the rhythm of 'casting and reeling, casting and reeling' conjures up in his mind. Kingwell is only a novice fly fisherman, so his thoughts on the oft-written-about sport stick to the ABCs, but are filled with a sense of joy and awe, so they can hardly be considered basic. Ever the philosophy professor (he teaches at the University of Toronto), Kingwell's musings on angling inevitably lead to in-depth essays on the inherent nature of and reasoning for various aspects of fishing, such as casting, killing, patience and outdoorsmanship. To flesh out his theories, Kingwell quotes from a varied list of sources including philosophers (Aristotle, Nietzsche), writers (Tom Wolfe, Hemingway) and fishing scribes (Izaak Walton, John Gierach). Thankfully, the author never forgets that, despite its philosophical characteristics, fishing, even fly fishing, should be fun. To that end, he livens up his prose with humorous tales about his family (his battles with his brother Sean will speak to anyone with a sibling), Canadian men (a 'weird conjunction of manliness and dandyism') and the undeniable virtues of the 'boat-beer' ('well known to tone you up and improve both coordination and judgment'). Though, in the end, he gets skunked in his fishing expedition for the meaning of life, Kingwell does create a book that finds a nice balance between the meaningful and the meaningless. Illus. not seen by PW. (May)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

- To be published just in time for Father's Day

Mark Kingwell, a philosopher and critic, is the author of six previous books. Currently professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto, he is a contributing editor of Harpe‛s Magazine, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Reade‛s Digest, and Utne Reader, among others.