Fishermen will love this book for its attention to detail and for seeing the humor in their obsessions, but a more general...
Fly-fishing enthusiasts turn a lazy fishing town into a madhouse as they try to become the first to snag an ugly trout for a big reward in this playful, good-natured insider’s sendup of the sport.
Ure (Leaving the Fold, 2000, etc.) previously wrote a fly-fishing memoir, but his first attempt at fiction is a community love note to the craziness that the fishing hobby can induce. Jud Buckalew, a trout-fishing guide living with his pet cat, Bob, in a tiny cabin in Last Chance, Idaho, only wants peace and quiet to pursue, à la Captain Ahab, the giant old trout he calls “The Pig.” Upset that his smarmy cousin Mark Bosham—who claims a childhood spent in Paris but neglects to mention it was Paris, Idaho—has been appointed the local fishing inspector, Jud calls on his old friend Rollo Pasco, a State Department employee, and asks him to send frozen samples of a hideous, fanged trout created in a failed gene splicing experiment. Jud convinces Mark that the fish are a new species found in the river, and Mark puts out a $50,000 reward for a live specimen that he could send for genetic analysis. The town residents and fish-seekers are broad caricatures—the crazy naked environmentalist, the older bass fisherman with a priapic medical condition, and the two guys who are amusingly depicted in their home environments as they catch the fish frenzy and try to hide their fishing adventures from their wives. But character interactions are often stilted and shallow, particularly the rapidly developed romantic relationship between Jud and Suzanne Hsu, visiting NBC reporter and “oriental mirage.” This struggle to make his characters play believably against one another means that even when all their stories come together at the river, the farce never really reaches a satisfying peak before scattering back into its component parts.
Fishermen will love this book for its attention to detail and for seeing the humor in their obsessions, but a more general audience may not quite get it.Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-1481005326
Page Count: 216
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 27, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Nothing new in this angry diatribe from sports columnist and novelist Lupica (Jump, 1995, etc.): Professional athletes and team owners are arrogant, selfish, and greedy; the fans are fed up; and somebody should do something about it. This should be the Golden Age of sports, with more sports and greater access to them than ever before, says Lupica. But it isn't, he continues, because fans are powerless against rising ticket and cable prices and because of escalating salaries for mediocre or ``preening'' players. The modern fan ``feels like someone trapped in an abusive relationship.'' He lays part of the blame on free agency, which came for the players in the mid-1970s but has been around a long time for the owners: Seeking better deals, owners like Walter O'Malley can move the beloved Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles with no regard for loyalty or tradition. More recently, Art Modell, in spite of 30 years of sold-out crowds at Cleveland Stadium, betrayed the city and Browns fans and moved to Baltimore. But as for the players' role in alienating fans, the author drags out the usual suspects: Dennis Rodman, Derrick Coleman, Michael Irvin, Albert Belle, Darryl Strawberry—misfits who have repeatedly shown contempt for fans, authority, and their game. Lupica provides statistics of athletes arrested or charged with crimes during 1995: Among them are 160 college football players; 49 professional football players; 21 hockey players. He offers a number of oft- heard solutions: no guaranteed contracts; pay college athletes something—maybe they'll stay in school longer; boycott ``rat owners''; institute a strict Code of Conduct for owners. Most will concur with Lupica's Lament, but his voice is so shrill, and he is often so crude (he says Modell sold the team for the same reason an ``old dog licks his balls. Because he can'') that even the angriest fan will turn away. (First serial to Esquire; author tour)
Pub Date: Oct. 14, 1996
ISBN: 0-399-14221-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An oddly touching compendium of the female Olympic athletes of 1932, a year the author considers ``pivotal'' for female athletes. In 1931, the International Olympic Committee considered eliminating women's events. But the 1932 Los Angeles venue, and the participation of such star athletes as Babe Didrikson, helped establish the reputation of women's sports. Historian Pieroth here collects the stories of the 1932 female Olympians from the Olympic trials to the Los Angeles Summer Games. Some of their stories are vivid: Didrikson's formidable skill and her controversial victory in the 80-meter hurdles—as she crossed the tape, Babe held up her arms as a sign of victory, though observers and a still photo show her in a dead heat with teammate Evelyne Hall. Ever the favorite, Babe took the gold. Swimmer Helene Madison, confident of victory in the 100-meter freestyle race, casually strolled onto the pool deck just as the race was about to begin. The embarrassed swimmer won. Other stories are sadder: Black sprinters Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes were not allowed to run in the 4 X 100 meter relay. Perhaps most interesting is the gender-based bias of the 1932 Olympic rules. American divers, lined up at the board, were sent back to the dressing room to don less revealing suits. In the high jump, women were expected to daintily hop over the bar in a sitting-up position. Didrikson, though the highest jumper, was fouled out of her gold when she jumped over the bar head first, as the men did. And it frequently took judges more than an hour to decide who had won a given running event and what the time was, since watches were inaccurate. Though the book is somewhat disorganized, and women's sports have become much more competitive in the last 64 years, Pieroth's admiration for these athletes is infectious, and their determination remains impressive. (24 photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-295-97553-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Univ. of Washington
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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