A River Runs Through it and Other Stories - Softcover

"[Maclean] would go to his grave secure in the knowledge that anyone who'd fished with a fly in the Rockies and read his novella on the how and why of it believed it to be the best such manual on the art ever written--a remarkable feat for a piece of prose that also stands as a masterwork in the art of tragic writing."--Philip Connors "Nation " "Altogether beautiful in the power of its feeling. . . . As beautiful as anything in Thoreau or Hemingway."--Alfred Kazin "Chicago Tribune Book World " "It is an enchanted tale. . . . I have read the story three times now, and each time it seems fuller."--Roger Sale "New York Review of Books " "Maclean's book--acerbic, laconic, deadpan--rings out of a rich American tradition that includes Mark Twain, Kin Hubbard, Richard Bissell, Jean Shepherd, and Nelson Algren. I love its sound."--James R. Frakes "New York Times Book Review " "Ostensibly a 'fishing story, ' 'A River Runs through It' is really an autobiographical elegy that captivates readers who have never held a fly rod in their hand. In it the art of casting a fly becomes a ritual of grace, a metaphor for man's attempt to move into nature."--Andrew Rosenheim "The Independent " "Maclean's book acerbic, laconic, deadpan rings out of a rich American tradition that includes Mark Twain, Kin Hubbard, Richard Bissell, Jean Shepherd, and Nelson Algren. I love its sound."--James R. Frakes "New York Times Book Review "" "Forty years ago, a book appeared that landed fly fishing in the center of American society. At the time, fly fishing books were not places where people played for keeps, where family promises were forgotten, where young heroes died, where relationships that were problematic in life become more so in death. Fly fishing books instead offered an idealized patch of life.... A River Runs Through It and Other Stories certainly stood that one on its head."--Will Ryan "American Angler " Forty years ago, a book appeared that landed fly fishing in the center of American society. At the time, fly fishing books were not places where people played for keeps, where family promises were forgotten, where young heroes died, where relationships that were problematic in life become more so in death. Fly fishing books instead offered an idealized patch of life . A River Runs Through It and Other Stories certainly stood that one on its head. --Will Ryan "American Angler ""

The two novellas and short story in this collection are based on his own experiences - the experiences of a young man who found that life was only a step from art in its structures and beauty.