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

I accidentally reviewed a daily planner on the wrong item line🙃 and it was posted. I did receive this book in very good condition & a timely manner. It’s for my adult son who is an avid fisherman. I believe he will like it.

My father has been passionate about fishing for as long as I can remember. I never have been. I didn't have the patience and lets face it, if you're not catching fish, then you're standing there holding a stick dangling string into a monumental body of water. As I've gotten older (and wiser?), I try to fish with my father whenever possible and, preconceived notions aside, I'm really enjoying myself. Consequently, when I ran across Ian Frazier's new offering, THE FISH'S EYE, I immediately purchased a copy for both my father and myself (reading is a passion we share). I thought I might glean some insight into an experienced fisherman's psyche as I read this set of 17 essays and thus, a snapshot of my father's fishing experiences. The essays, written by Mr. Frazier over the last 20+ years and presented in chronological order, present the reader with Frazier's experiences in the fishing life....and his experiences have been wide and varied.As an incredible admission, this reader had no clue that there were people who actually fished in New York City proper (it just didn't seem to fit) but Frazier sets this misnomer to rest in his first essay, "Anglers." Here, he describes his experiences of observing and listening to a few of those throwing their lines into one of six ponds in the City's park system near Harlem Meer.One of the better and more detailed essays is "An Angler at Heart." This essay details the story of Jim Deren, the owner of Anglers Roost, in none other than New York City! Frazier tells of his many conversations with Deren as he frequents The Roost. This 47-page essay is actually several essays rolled into one, all featuring Deren and his experiences in the fishing life. At one point in the essay, Frazier spends nearly two full pages informing us of the different types of lures one would be confronted with when visiting Angler's Roost. In this reader's opinion, if there is one essay epitomizing the spirit of this book, it would be this particular one."Guiding Guys" is a hilarious spoof on fishing guide services. Frazier describes the "guarantees" one receives in the propaganda distributed by many of these services. In this essay, Frazier writes from the point of view of a guide making just such guarantees of outings ranging from great fishing to extremely great fishing. And, he provides the reader with several different guides to choose from. There's Craig, 6'7" and 275 lbs. who grunts and answers in one-word sentences; Potter, who will never stop nagging you the entire outing as to how badly you're doing; and, last but not least, former President Jimmy Carter. Now, you have to pay a little extra for Mr. Carter but its well worth it as the former President will regale you with tales of his Presidency as you sit around the campfire.Perhaps the most poignant essay for me was "Fishing Without Dad." This essay is specifically dedicated to Frazier's memory of his father, who never liked to fish and moreover, thought it was cruel. This particular piece details Frazier's penchant for fishing while growing up but without the fatherly advice and companionship he seemed to yearn for. This is probably the most touching piece in the book.The only downside to this collection of essays were those pieces that had absolutely nothing to do with fishing. This fit more into the life stories portion of the book. "In The Brain" has almost nothing to do with fishing but regales how Frazier tormented his brother (as brothers will do) on family vacations. "It's Hard To Eat Just One" describes Frazier's experiences with eating his bait, specifically bugs. In my opinion, these pieces (and a couple others) should have been modified or removed as they had very little if anything to do with fishing.Frazier's penchant for spinning a story is outstanding. That said, anyone who loves fishing will enjoy THE FISH'S EYE; anyone who isn't a fisherman at heart will most likely find these tales slow and possibly boring.

I read this collection of essays just because what I know about fishing could fit on the end of a tiny, size-28 hook, and I particularly dared the author to interest me. Beginning to read an essay is one way of expressing hope, of putting faith in the writer’s ability to inspire the reader to think of things differently or to consider new things. His style of writing did both, and made me curious about the people and places he wrote about. Frazier was the fish of his book’s title and his perspective the eye, but his experiences took me from one end of the country to another, from major rivers to a minor brook. I got the idea that one thing that keeps fishermen coming back year after year is the hope of catching that one, glorious fish. I guess they are hanging their hopes at the end of their fishing wires, just like non-fishermen do metaphorically with other things in life. We keep going, keep working, keep tying on flies, keep casting out to eddies in the river where the big fish circle. So, yes, I liked Frazier’s book a lot. The further I got into the book, the less it seemed about merely fishing, and the more it seemed about life.

Until recently, I didn't know that Frazier could write "fish." In fact, he does it with great wit and humor. What a surprising range of experiences, and not all strictly fishing: there's getting to the right water, shopping for gear, listening to advice, even tasting the bait. I enjoyed every essay, though would give a special nod to Frazier's journal of discovery related to the spring melt along Montana's Pattee Creek. And, as a character study, you'll rarely find anyone more memorable and interesting than Jim D. in "An Angler at Heart."

The author is a great story teller in an unvarnished way with insight and humorabout the travails of sport fishing. Makes a good gift for any angler.