| Fly Tales
Lessons in Fly Fishing Like the Real Guys
Scott Sadil
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“Real Guys,” writes Scott Sadil in Fly Tales: Lessons in Fly Fishing Like the Real Guys, his new collection of literary essays, “belong to an inner circle of expert anglers—men and women of rarefied gifts whose skills and knowledge and perhaps fortune of good breeding have positioned them in territory the rest of us can only glimpse or occasionally admire.”
But are Real Guys real? Or are they, asks Sadil, perhaps an ideal, an illusion, a fabrication in the minds of fly fishers who find themselves unable to avoid the kinds of failures and humiliations anglers everywhere have suffered since first tying flies to the ends of their lines?
Follow Sadil through more than three dozen essays, or “lessons,” as he aims for membership into that “cadre of insiders” who, he wants to believe, rarely if ever suffer the kinds of defeats that he has known all too well throughout his angling career. In the tradition of fine literature from hearth, home, and afield, Sadil completes each lesson with his pattern, or recipe, for a fly that has proven integral to these gracefully articulated steps along his arduous journey to fish like a Real Guy.
On the heels of his popular and highly praised Lost in Wyoming, the collection of fiction that placed his name squarely among the best writers of contemporary outdoor literature, Scott Sadil’s Fly Tales: Lessons in Fly Fishing Like the Real Guys again treats readers to the humor, insight, and distinguished prose of an author whose reputation grows with each book. Whether new to fly fishing or an experienced hand—or simply a devotee of literary essays of the highest rank—readers of Fly Tales will find themselves both enlightened and entertained, while at the same time offered invitation into the fabled circle of Real Guys—“secret practitioners who beguile fish, especially trout, with the flair of stooping harriers.”
Praise for Fly Tales
The best fishing stories are about something other than fishing, but that wouldn’t have come up without the fishing. Scott not only understands that, he does it beautifully.
— John Gierach, author of Fool’s Paradise, Still Life With Brook Trout, and Trout Bum
Scott Sadil writes with a sharp eye, a hungry heart, and real joy in language. He’s a master at putting the reader in the moment—whether he’s describing a big dorado, ruminating on what a “Real Guy” is, or describing the offhand way a guide tosses bait off a boat—Sadil invites you in and lets you be there. And what a nice place to be, if you love angling and good words. These pieces are perfectly written and wonderfully observed, and I read them with a grin on my face.
— T. Jefferson Parker, author of Iron River, The Renegades, and L.A. Outlaws
Scott Sadil is not only one of the best fishing writers I’ve read in a long while, he’s one of the best writers, period.
— Patrick McManus, author of The Huckleberry Murders and The Double-Jack Murders
It’s hard to tell what Sadil loves most: fly fishing, or the language that captures the passion of yearning and pursuit. And loss, because not only fish get away. And laughter, when he wonders what it’s all worth.
— Seth Norman, author of Meanderings of a Fly Fisherman and Fly Fisher’s Guide to Crimes of Passion
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| The Author
Scott Sadil grew up surfing and fishing in southern California. He is the author of three previous books, the collection of stories Lost in Wyoming, the memoir Angling Baja, and the novel Cast from the Edge. Throughout his career his stories and essays have appeared in the outdoor press. The recipient of a Fishtrap fellowship, he lives with his family in Hood River, Oregon, where he writes, teaches, and navigates a fishing life.
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Available July 2010
$24.95 | Hardcover | 256 pages | 6x9 | © 2010
ISBN-13: 978-1-936008-03-2
ISBN-10: 1-936008-03-3
Published by Barclay Creek Press
Distributed by Stackpole Books
Individuals can order from your local bookstore, Stackpole, or Amazon
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