Synopses & Reviews
Every once in a great while, a new writer comes along who brings to outdoor literature a freshness and electricity that rivals not only the best of the genre, but those writers who transcend the genrefrom Ernest Hemingway to Jim Harrison. Jeff Hull is such a writer. In Streams of Consciousness, he regales readers with humility and hilarity, taking us from the robust trout streams of Montana to the salty shores of New England to the spring creeks of Chiles Patagonia and beyond. He is writing about fly fishingand everything but fly fishing. In Montana he fishes fabled trout streams in twilight, the magical time, when the day is running down and while his brothers time is literally running out. In Belize, Hull, obsessed with permit, attempts to catch a grand slam: tarpon, permit, and bonefish all in one day. In a muddy Ohio creek, as a tube-sock wearing teen, Hull and his friends catch bass and navigate the murky waters of love, respect, and hormones. In a small pond on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital in Kansas, he fishes, pulling bluegill out of the water along with an essential part of his identity.
Streams of Consciousness is not just fine writing about sport and filled with wonderful characters and spectacular fishing adventures, though it is that, too. These gemlike encounters shimmer with insight. Like bolts of lightning, they illuminate all that surrounds them. You dont need to have ever picked up a fly rod for these pieces to speak to you; you need only to have an appreciation for literature that works its way deeper into your consciousness long after youve closed the covers of the book.
Review
"This book is written with heart, intelligence and style. Hull understands that the things that make fishing and life meaningful are small enough to be easily missed and that they rarely fit into the straightjacket of a cliché."-- John Gierach author of
Still Life with Brook Trout"With startling honesty and vigorous prose, Jeff Hull takes us into the deep, often dangerous waters of the world and of the human spirit. There's nothing like fishing to make a person think about life and death, and the flashing, reel-screaming urge to live." --- Kathleen Dean Moore, author of Riverwalking: Reflections on Moving Water
"A book that will burrow into the hearts of anglers and nonanglers alike."--Publishers Weekly
It is with due caution that I compare Jeffs writing in Streams of Consciousness” with the classic A River Runs Through It”. I dont want to make Jeff uncomfortable by comparing him to the great Norman Maclean, but I can't help it. I finished both books with that same feeling: Wow”. Now that I know Jeff a little better than I did before, I wish I could shake his hand and tell him what a terrific job he did with Streams of Consciousness”. It is a thought provoking, yet terrifically enjoyable book. I recommend it highly.--www.globalflyfisher.com
Synopsis
This collection is about fishing and everything but fishing. From the trout streams of Montana to the shores of New England, to the spring creeks of Chiles Patagonia to the clear waters of Belize, Hull regales readers with humility and hilarity. In Montana he fishes fabled trout streams in twilight; the day runs down while his brothers time literally runs out. In a small pond on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital in Kansas, he fishes, pulling bluegill out of the water along with an essential part of his identity. While Hull fills his dispatches with wonderful characters and spectacular fishing stories, he offers searing insight into the human heart.
Synopsis
The next great voice in the Lyons Press pantheon of immortal fishing writers.
About the Author
Jeff Hull has written for
The Atlantic Monthly,
Audubon,
National Geographic Traveler,
Outside,
Travel & Leisure,
National Geographic Adventure, and many more. He has guided in Montana and in remote bonefish flats in the South Pacific and teaches magazine writing at the University of Montana School of Journalism. He is the author of
Pale Morning Done (Lyons Press, 2005).