Illustrator: James Prosek
Publisher: Yale University Press
Since the first copy of the Yale Anglers' Journalappeared in 1996, readers with an interest in fish and fishing have opened the pages of each issue with anticipation and delight. YAJ's founders suspected that others would share their passion for literature and art related to angling; what they had not fully anticipated was the intensity of enthusiasm from readers and writers everywhere. Perhaps they shouldn't have been surprised. Some 35 million Americans regularly fish, and among their numbers are presidents and students, old and young, the famous and the unknown, the busy and the idle. Tight Lines: Ten Years of the Yale Anglers' Journal presents a selection of 50 stories, recollections, essays, and poems featured in the Yale Anglers' Journal during its first remarkable decade, and the volume is lavishly illustrated with more than 30 original paintings by James Prosek.
Edited by Joseph Furia, Wyatt Golding, David Haltom, Steven Hayhurst, Joseph Kingsbery, and Alexis Surovov, Tight Lines contains a range of writings that all celebrate fish and the experience of fishing, yet could hardly be more diverse. Some evoke a nostalgic earlier time, others vibrate with excitement, and still others offer a humorous view of life's surprises.
The contributions come from well-known current writers, little-known newcomers, and even authors of antiquity, such as Homer, who had a thing or two to say about fishing. Contributors include:
- Skip Morris
- Jimmy Carter
- John Hollander
- Christopher Buckley
- Dana S. Lamb
- Elliot L. Richardson
- Ron McFarland
- Scott Bowen
- John E. Smelcer
- Robert Behnke
- R. Howard Bloch
- Steven Rinella
Tight Lines includes a foreword by Nick Lyons and a preface by James Prosek and Joseph Furia, who cofounded the Yale Anglers' Journal. Anyone who has felt a line pull tight, or is curious to know why the experience has inspired anglers throughout human history, will want to open the pages of this inviting book.
Reviews
"This is the liveliest collection of angling (and angling-related) pieces I have read in a long time. And we can be confident that James Prosek's wonderful watercolors, included as a bonus here, will be a part of the sport permanently."
—Ian Frazier, author of The Fish's Eye
"One of the finest anthologies of contemporary angling writing I have read in the past 20 years. Tight Lines is full of interesting voices, vivid prose, and wonderfully original takes on the angling passion."
—Christopher Camuto, author of A Fly Fisherman's Blue Ridge, Another Country, and Hunting from Home.
