Synopses & Reviews
In The Fish's Eye: Essays About Angling and the Outdoors, Ian Frazier explores his lifelong passion for fishing, fish, and the aquatic world. He sees the angler's environment all around him--in New York's Grand Central Station, in the cement-lined pond of a city park, in a shimmering bonefish flat in the Florida Keys, in the trout streams of the Rocky Mountains. He marvels at the fishing in the turbid Ohio River by downtown Cincinnati, where a good bait for catfish is half a White Castle french fry. The incidentals of the angling experience, the who and the where of it, interest him as much as what he catches and how. The essays contain sharply focused observations of the American outdoors, a place filled with human alterations and detritus that somehow remain defiantly unruined. Frazier's simple love of the sport lifts him to a straight-ahead angling description that's among the best contemporary writing on the subject. The Fish's Eye brings together twenty years of heartfelt, funny, and vivid essays on a timeless pursuit where so many mysteries, both human and natural, coincide.
Ian Frazier is the author of Great Plains, On the Rez, Family, Coyote v. Acme, and Dating Your Mom. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey.
In The Fish's Eye, Frazier explores his lifelong passion for fishing, fish, and the aquatic world. He sees the angler's environment all around him--in New York's Grand Central Station, in the cement-lined pond of a city park, in a shimmering bonefish flat in the Florida keys, in the trout streams of the Rocky Mountains. He marvels at the fishing in the turbid Ohio River by downtown Cincinatti, where a good bait for catfsh is half a White Castle french fry. The incidentals of the angling experience, the who and the where of it, interest this beloved New Yorker contributor and author as much as what he catches and how.
The essays collected in this book--including Frazier's famous profile of master angler Jim Deren, late proprietor of the Angler's Roost, a New York tackle store--afford many sharply focused observations of the American outdoors, a place filled with human alterations and detritus that somehow remains defiantly unruined. Frazier's simple love of the sport inspires one straight-ahead angling description after another; the prose in The Fish's Eye ranks with the best contemporary writing on this subject.
Bringing together twenty years of heartfelt, funny, and vivid essays on a timeless pursuit where so many mysteries, both human and natural, coincide, this book deserves a place in every tackle box in every creek bank in America (San Francisco Examiner).
There is nothing so rare as a perfect book . . . The Fish's Eye, by Ian Frazier, is one of these happy few . . . It is a charming and idiosyncratic collection in which Frazier reflects on his life of fly-fishing, the great outdoors, the natural worlds of the city and suburb, and their unique travails and pleasures.--Chicago Tribune
There is nothing so rare as a perfect book . . . The Fish's Eye, by Ian Frazier, is one of these happy few . . . It is a charming and idiosyncratic collection in which Frazier reflects on his life of fly-fishing, the great outdoors, the natural worlds of the city and suburb, and their unique travails and pleasures.--Chicago Tribune
Trust Ian Frazier to break new ground in the literature about fishing . . . his humor and imagination infuse the seventeen essays . . . with the manic enthusiasm few anglers can ever explain.--The New York Times Book Review
In his subject matter and his narrative persona, Ian Frazier--a writer whose investigations of the contemporary American West (Great Plains, On the Rez) unpredictably combine genuine power and an engaging breeziness of manner--particularly resembles John McPhee. In any event, Frazier, like McPhee or like Edward Hoagland, is a man who always stays in touch, psychologically speaking, with the fallen world, no matter how deeply he has gone into the natural one. He has, after all, forsworn angling holiness, and is modestly content to add a small, good book to a distinguished and underrated tradition.--The American Scholar
Frazier's] such an incredible writer that even readers who don't care much about fishing will find in The Fish's Eye a welcoming spot to sit and cast about pondering the depths of life.--Los Angeles Times
He is a keen observer and a genuine lover of nature. On every page is a description that brings the air, sky, water, rocks, flies, and fish stunningly, startlingly to life.--The Boston Globe
Reading Frazier] one thinks of such American originals as John McPhee, Wallace Stegner, Edward Hoagland, Peter Matthiessen and Evan Connell.--Ron Hansen, The Washington Post Book World
Witty, insightful . . . This gem belongs in waterproof pockets and urban backpacks.--New York Post
A great read . . . He] is a kindred spirit whose writing has the warmth and humbleness of an old friend.--Big Sky Journal
It's enough to say you will inhale Ian Frazier's readable and witty The Fish's Eye . . . This isn't a book about fish but about dreams.--The Seattle Times
A wonderful little volume . . . Frazier] hooks his reader immediately and, with his blend of reportage and humor, reels us right in.--The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Whether on a paved shore in Harlem or, naturally, Montana's Yellowstone River, Frazier writes with the unpretentious lyricism and comedy that is the hallmark of all his work.--Minneapolis Star Tribune
Hemingway, you have company on my top shelf.--Business Week
All 17 of the angling pieces Frazier has written over the last 20 years have now been preserved in one volume. Attentive readers of The New Yorker over the last two decades will have caught most of these pieces before, but anglers and essay fans (not to mention F
Review
“Extraordinary...Reading [Ian Frazier] one thinks of such American originals as John McPhee, Wallace Stegner, Edward Hoagland, Peter Matthiessen, and Evan S. Connell.” —
The Washington Post Book World“Trust Ian Frazier to break new ground in the literature about fishing...his humor and imagination infuse the seventeen essays...with the manic enthusiasm few anglers can ever explain.”—The New York Times Book Review
“[Frazier] is a keen observer and a genuine lover of nature. On every page is a description that brings the air, sky, water, rocks, flies, and fish stunningly, startlingly to life.” —The Boston Globe
“The Fishs Eye deserves a place in every tackle box on every creek bank in America....A prodigious but casual genius... Fraziers also a whale of a reporter.” —San Francisco Examiner
“Deliciously bent outdoor essays, most of which involve a fly rod.” —Mens Journal
“Its hard to imagine a more heartfelt book, or one more lovingly rendered.” —Booklist (starred review)
“[Fraziers] such an incredible writer that even readers who dont care much about fishing will find in The Fishs Eye a welcoming spot to sit and cast about pondering the depths of life.” —Los Angeles Times
“Witty, insightful...This gem belongs in waterproof pockets and urban backpacks.” —New York Post
“A great read...[He] is a kindred spirit whose writing has the warmth and humbleness of an old friend.” —Big Sky Journal
Synopsis
In
The Fishs Eye: Essays About Angling and the Outdoors, Ian Frazier explores his lifelong passion for fishing, fish, and the aquatic world. He sees the anglers environment all around him—in New Yorks Grand Central Station, in the cement-lined pond of a city park, in a shimmering bonefish flat in the Florida Keys, in the trout streams of the Rocky Mountains. He marvels at the fishing in the turbid Ohio River by downtown Cincinnati, where a good bait for catfish is half a White Castle french fry. The incidentals of the angling experience, the who and the where of it, interest him as much as what he catches and how. The essays contain sharply focused observations of the American outdoors, a place filled with human alterations and detritus that somehow remain defiantly unruined. Fraziers simple love of the sport lifts him to a straight-ahead angling description thats among the best contemporary writing on the subject.
The Fishs Eye brings together twenty years of heartfelt, funny, and vivid essays on a timeless pursuit where so many mysteries, both human and natural, coincide.
Synopsis
In The Fish's Eye: Essays about Angling and the Outdoors, Ian Frazier A Great Storyteller (Newsweek), and one of the American Originals (Washington Post Book World) explores his lifelong passion for fishing, fish, and the aquatic world.
He sees the angler's environment all around him-in New York's Grand Central Station, in the cement-lined pond of a city park, in a shimmering bonefish flat in the Florida keys, in the trout streams of the Rocky Mountains. He marvels at the fishing in the turbid Ohio River by downtown Cincinnati, where a good bait for catfish is half a White Castle french fry. The incidentals of the angling experience, the who and the where of it, interest him as much as what he catches and how.
The essays (including the famous profile of master angler Jim Deren, late proprietor of New York's tackle store, the Angler's Roost) contain sharply focused observations of the American outdoors, a place filled with human alterations and detritus that somehow remains defiantly unruined. Frazier's simple love of the sport lifts him to straight -ahead angling description that are among the best contemporary writing on the subject.
The Fish's Eye brings together twenty years of heartfelt, funny, and vivid essays on a timeless pursuit where so many mysteries, both human and natural, coincide.
About the Author
Ian Frazier is the author of
Great Plains, On the Rez, Family, as well as
Coyote v. Acme and
Dating Your Mom. A frequent contributor to
The New Yorker, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey.