A Jerk On One End

"Fishing largely consists of not catching fish; failure is as much a part of the sport as knee injuries are of football. " Thus Robert Hughes, best-selling author of The Fatal Shore, The Culture of Complaint, and American Visions, begins his musings about fishing in three parts Saltwater, Freshwater, and Hot Water. While there is much about catching and not catching fish, there is also much about literature, craftsmanship, and even how fishing changes your sex life. The result is a nonromantic masterpiece that is partly polemic, partly reminiscent and all Hughes.