Thanks to the good folks at Fox Chapel Publishing we have a brand-spanking new copy of John Bailey’s True Tales from an Expert Fisherman: A Memoir of My Life With Rod and Reel to give away (just released in April).
The title received the Book of the Year Award from the Angling Writers Association, and details Bailey’s travels around the world in ten well-written and illustrated principle stories from one of Britain’s best-known angling personalities.
He’s not only an author (multiple titles, including John Bailey’s Fishing Bible), but a respectable photographer, and British television personality focusing on fishing and natural history.
There are several things about the book that I’ve found particularly enjoyable. First, many of Bailey’s travels documented so well in the book took place back before the “golden age” of angling travel that we find ourselves in today; there weren’t easy air drops by helicopter, hotel quality bunkhouses and yurts, or formally-trained chefs manning fully-staffed field kitchens back in the day.
Secondly, the book is very well illustrated, with gritty, very purposeful appearing photos throughout, rendering an air of authenticity so often lacking in our Instagram-deluged, overly posed and composed angling photography today.
Thirdly, while I truly love and deeply appreciate great American authors who can write in a warm, conversational, almost folksy style (grab a copy of Rick Bragg’s My Southern Journey – the best book we’ve read in our camp in years – for a great example, or any of Gierach’s ‘middle years’ tomes), it’s been a genuine pleasure to read a British author’s tight prose this past week.
To put an unopened, virginal copy in your hands next week, fire an email here with True Tales in the subject line and we’ll draw for this fine book on Sunday the 10th and get it in the mail the 11th.
Cheers.
