The Start of a Fish Tale

I wouldn't have thought a book about fly fishing would be so engaging but it is.

While I am not far into the book yet, I love the characters: the cowgirl-bait-using mom, aristocratic-fly-fishing-purist-British dad, fishing-obsessed son number one, and water-repellent son number two.

Last year we picked several books by Barbara Kingsolver and several by Pat Conroy to discuss. That gave us a chance to discuss books written at different times in the authors' careers and how they treated fiction and non-fiction. I had considered suggesting that this year we pick a couple of books that deal with marriage but didn't. Now we have a chance to look at how marriage is treated in different books. The portrait of this couple will be an interesting contrast to Franklin and Eleanor later in the year!

I have been enjoying the humor and wanted to know more about the author, so I googled him and found the following: My Advice on Writing Advice by David James Duncan.

At any rate, I loved his advise to aspiring authors:

"My very best, most financially useful writing advice to those who show extra spirit, the way you're doing, is this: If you want a sane work life, economic viability, happy family, home, flat abs, nice ass, reliable car, health insurance, and teeth, DON'T TRY TO WRITE BOOKS AT ALL! STOP NOW!"

— Kat Cason