Former Moscow bureau chief for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Fen Montaigne writes for National Geographic and Audubon. He lives in Atlanta.
"Wonderful...a vastly entertaining and edifying work." --The Washington Post "A passionate and beautifully written memoir...a vivid, compelling...portrait of a country that remains an enigma to most Americans." --The Chicago Tribune "Think of Montaigne as a Tocqueville with a fly rod who uncovers Russia in the raw." --Sports Illustrated "A first-rate book...[with] memorable writing...Mr. Montaigne...has netted a darkly comic tale in which he is the picaresque antihero." --The Wall Street Journal
This reviewer must come clean immediately and acknowledge that she knows next to nothing about flyfishing, notwithstanding her having a son who spends most weekends up to his hips in icy New York streams, rod in hand. She does, however, have an enduring interest in things Russian and consequently landed this interesting assignment. Aksakov was a great autobiographical writer of 19th-century Russia, but his first success was with a "sporting trilogy" to which this book belongs. A classic of both Russian and sport literature, known to most enthusiasts, including Montaigne, it was completed in 1846 and expresses Aksakov's passion not only for the sport but for nature in general. After vignette-like discussions of various equipment, the book breaks out into charming discussions of various fish from minnows to burbot that will interest naturalists as well as historically minded flyfishers. Two appendixes include Aksakov's fishing prose and poetry. This won't fit into every popular sports collection, but the prose is perfectly accessible and the book entertaining beyond its obvious historical interest. Montaigne, a former Moscow bureau chief for the Philadelphia Inquirer, has written a book that is less a guide to flyfishing in Russia than a political travelog with his fishing trips as the, ahem, hook. Montaigne determined to flyfish his way across Russia, said to contain in its far reaches some beautiful streams still teeming with fish, but what he encountered repeatedly was bad news for both fish and humans: a countryside despoiled by exploitation and a people so desperate after the fall of communism took away what security they had that many survive by wholesale poaching. Despite some fascinating characters, this is a pretty downbeat trip, which Montaigne himself rarely seemed to enjoy. Probably only readers deeply interested in contemporary Russia will want to go along with him. [Montaigne's book was previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/98.]ÄBarbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
"Wonderful...a vastly entertaining and edifying work." --The Washington Post "A passionate and beautifully written memoir...a vivid, compelling...portrait of a country that remains an enigma to most Americans." --The Chicago Tribune "Think of Montaigne as a Tocqueville with a fly rod who uncovers Russia in the raw." --Sports Illustrated "A first-rate book...[with] memorable writing...Mr. Montaigne...has netted a darkly comic tale in which he is the picaresque antihero." --The Wall Street Journal
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