Catch and Release

Part memoir, part travelogue, and part reflection on the deep truths of fly fishing, this original and free-wheeling book brings a philosopher’s (actually a philosophy professor’s) mind to bear on an avocation that turns ordinary men into philosophers. As he relates the progress of his yearly fishing trip to British Columbia with his father and brothers, Mark Kingwell considers everything from work, procrastination, and the way of manhood to the wet vs. dry fly debate and the best ways of fooling a fish. Sly in its humor, unassuming in its erudition, Catch and Release is a perfect book for anyone who loves fishing—or anyone who’s perplexed by it.