Casting Onward is the second book of fishing stories by Steve Ramirez. Due out 1st May from Rowman & Littlefield on their Lyons Press imprint, it's 320 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.
This is not a "how-to" tutorial guide. There are no maps or directions to recommended fishing areas, and no photographs. What it does include is a warm and conversational bunch of essays about specific game fish in the USA and the author's experiences with them, and with the outdoors people who care for and fish them. The author is quite gifted at conveying a sense of calm and meditative respect for the sport of fly fishing. I grew up with fishermen and have always enjoyed camping and outdoor pursuits. They fished, I read (or foraged, or took photographs). Reading this book reminded me a lot of my younger days. There is quite a lot of history interspersed in the stories: mental attitude, fishermen/women, fish, locations, human interaction, and the bigger philosophical life questions. I wasn't expecting to be as engaged in the read as I was.
The
illustrations, which are simple charcoal and graphite sketches, really added a lot to
the book. This would make a superlative gift to a fisherman, library
acquisition, or for the home library. Highly recommended to fans of
nature/sport writers, naturists such as Thomas McGuane and/or Norman Maclean. There are no photographs in this edition, except the covers.
The book also includes a short bibliography for further reading.
Five stars. Beautifully written.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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