Fool's Paradise

Gierach keeps pumping out the kind of material that takes you to the stream with him, but also challenges the reader to feel as deeply about the experience as he does. For any flyfisher who has a "...home river" or enjoys the challenge of new water, making new friends, or watching nature unfurl its majesty before your mind's eye, "Fool's Paradise" is a book you'll thoroughly enjoy.

If you like Gierach, you will like this one. He just keeps doing it. As usual, he is funny, thoughtful, interesting, entertaining. More than just fishing stories, but mighty good fishing stories nonetheless.

Yet another well-written book from one of the best writer's in the fly fishing arena. It's like intellectual bubble gum for the fly fishing mind. Easy to read and lasts a long time. Insightful.

(review originally published on the TroutUnderground.com) "I don't have any illusions of permanence... It's just that I can live with any number of things going straight to hell as long as these streams continue to hold up. If this amounts to living in a Fool's Paradise, don't waste your time trying to explain that to the fool." - John Gierach, Fool's Paradise With sixteen fly fishing books to his credit - all of which have been continuously in print since their release - John Gierach might just be fly fishing's most-read writer. Twenty years has passed since the publication of Gierach's eponymous Trout Bum -- a book that remains the favorite of many Gierach fans -- and while Gierach's perspective has evolved, his style remains recognizably (and comfortably) his own. In his newest book -- Fool's Paradise -- Gierach's facility for one-liners and wry observation from outside the mainstream remain undiminished, and he combines the two frequently: "I'm still waiting for Americans to realize that being in constant communication is not an advantage, but a short leash. Cell phones have changed us from a nation of self-reliant pioneer types into a bunch of men standing alone in supermarkets saying `Okay, I'm in the the tampon aisle, but I don't see it.'" Later -- at the start of one of my favorite chapters in the book ("Creeks") -- Gierach does it again with: "While killing time in a Starbucks in Portland, Oregon, not long ago, I was idly eavesdropping on two businessmen when one -- invoking the tired cliche -- said that their problems might be solved if they could start thinking outside the box. The other, younger man replied, `Dude, there's no box.'" Some fans might be shocked to hear that Gierach spent time in a Starbucks, or that he's softening his stance on bamboo rods to the point that he fished a graphite rod all week long on another road trip: "So one afternoon I was happily casting a foam stonefly pattern on a graphite rod when our guide said, `You know, if this gets out, you could lose your charter membership in the Old Farts' Club.'" Of course, revealing snapshots of your life to strangers comes at a cost; our view of Gierach is partially one of a writer who existed 20 years ago, and in the meantime, Gierach has moved along in his life, and frankly, that's part of the allure of reading his newer books. I mean, exactly what is happening with AK, Mike Clark, Ed Engle and the rest of the gang? I'm tempted to suggest the "theme" of Fool's Paradise revolves around the concept of change, and I could back it up with a lot of carefully selected passages, but in truth, that's the kind of thing a critic says out loud while an author scratches his head and wonders what book the guy was reading. Still, Gierach's recent books (Fool's Paradise is his first in three years) recognize the fact he's not 30 any more, and in places, he does what you'd expect anyone approaching 60 might do; he looks back on his life. To Gierach's credit,

John Gierach has written another book for the fisherman, and like his others, this one is an instant classic. Reading Gierach is both entertaining and enriching, as this trout bum has paid his dues and spent a lifetime in felt soled shoes. A classic, a fun read, and perfect for any fisherman or sportsman with an affinity for the outdoors. I bought this book while on my way to fish John Gierach's home stream. I bought the book at Mike Clark's shop in Lyons, and while there, John Barr walked in. John Gierach's books have brought me much joy, and someone I most certainly look up to and aspire to be like some day. I highly recommend this book as your first Gierach book or just another one in your collection.