Books
 

Books are a wonderful escape from the often monotony of everyday life and from the stresses of business and making a living. They are also a soothing medium for those experiencing 'cabin fever' or the 'shack nasties' at this time of year. To be able to sit back in that comfortable chair by the fire while enjoying a favorite beverage and become lost in a different place in a different time within the pages of a book is such a pleasure after a long day. I do it almost every day.

Reading some George Bird Evans recently I came across a short passage of his that really epitomizes my feeling about woodcock - he writes: "The sorcery of woodcock - dropping out of almost nowhere into remote coverts, bringing them alive for a few days, then vanishing - working their spell each autumn in places many times unseen by men, is a wonder I can never take for granted."

I'm a grouse hunter, but woodcock really have my heart.

In the Spring Issue of Parker Pages we have a nicely written Book Review. We used to publish members' book reviews with some frequency but haven't done so for quite a good while, but I'd sure publish them if we received any.

Please share with our readers a good book you have read recently. If you haven't read one lately, now is the perfect time to do so.... to ward off the Shack Nasties. :vconfused::throw::rotf:






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Dean,
Thankfully, we are not experiencing the shack nasties in the Carolinas (72 today) but your topic is very timely and I agree wholeheartedly. In an attempt to broaden my horizons from the traditional works of Rutledge, McIntosh, Ruark, GB Evans, etc., my fly fishing son has introduced me to a book called "Trout Bum" by John Gierach. A fly fishing book may seem off topic for our forum but I know a lot our group occasionally will put down the Parkers and pick up a fly rod. The link for me and my son is that we are now tying our own flies with our wing shooting feathers. Anyway, the book is humerous and written at a high level that really makes you think about what you need to sacrifice and forsake in life to truly become a "trout bum". It's a good read for those that share other passions in addition to our Parkers and wing shooting.

Charles

there are fly fishing writers who, in my opinion, rival the best of the upland writers

some like Corey Ford did both well

And Burt Spiller wrote "Fishin' Around." A really good read.

Gierach is one of my favorites! I have several of his books - he's really an independent cuss... a lot like many of us.

One of my favorite Gierach quotes came from one of his stories where he nosed his old pickup truck in against the curb in one of those little Colorado recently 'yuppified' towns and a young woman on the curb started berating him for the shotgun in the rack in his back window.... "That's no shotgun lady - that's a Parker!" was his terse reply.





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Need a good foul weather weekend here so I can catch up on my reading. I have saved GBE's last book on the Blackwater/Cannan, have Steve Smith's new woodcock book, and haven't looked at the Tranquility series I bought from Angel. I almost always buy some books when I go to the Southern and Hausmanns . Yeah, Gierach is a good read, I need to collect all his books. I get sidetracked now with playing guitar--fingerstyle--just picked up a little classical guitar, working on some James Taylor, Stephen Bishop, and Kenny Rankin tonight--along with a little Bulleit Rye.

Do yourself a favor Harold - treat yourself to the Tranquility trilogy soon... you will not regret it. Sheldon's writing in these books is some of the 'best of the best' - but then that's a Yankee's opinion of a Yankee writer and sportsman. :bowdown:






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I've been reading Gierach for a number of years .

It's almost a cliché to say it, but every year I find myself re-reading something of Gene Hill's; fishin' stuff when the season's upon us, upland stuff in the fall. And...

...yup!

I've had Tranquility and Tranquility Revisited for years and had read them several times. It was less than a year ago I picked up Tranquility Regained and then read them as a set. It looks like it is time to do so again. Good reminder Dean!
Thanks,

Jack Kuzepski

I keep going back and reading Gordon McQuarrie's stuff, and when I need a Michigan fix, it's Robert Traver's Trout Madness and Trout Magic