The Fish's Eye: Essays about Angling and the Outdoors

Neither love for nor even familiarity with fishing is required to enjoy this collection of Frazier's essays published over a couple of decades in The New Yorker and other magazines. Frazier's writing betrays a habit of compulsive observation. His essays on fishing in the city, for example, describe the people fishing, their conversation, their bait, their catch, and the flotsam that floats by, named by brand. All these observed details create an undercurrent in the narrative on America's stuff, geography, city life, and people, that accompanies the history of fishing and stories of fishermen, streams, fording, and choice of flies. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)