Gilgamesh to Gierach

Fish have figured profoundly in both human history and imagination for millennia. They are both gifts of the sea drawing civilizations to the water and terrors of the deep holding revelations of the unconscious and the unknown. Today fly fishing attracts millions looking to escape modern life and reconnect with some primal meditative instinct to partake in nature's offerings.Gilgamesh to Gierach is a collection of three hundred fishing water and fish tales spanning four millennia and numerous genres. More than a historical overview White has distilled this immense topic into threads that flow through time from legends and literature to nursery rhymes poems and humorous fish tales. Anglers will discover fly fishing's ancient roots and spiritual seekers the fish's religious and existential implications. Among the included voices are Homer St. John Ovid Brendan the Navigator Dame Juliana Berners Shakespeare Walton Melville Yeats Thoreau Hemingway Rodrick Haig-Brown and Norman Maclean. Whether told in full or more often condensed these stories will leave the reader with a strong sense of the fish's significance to many of the world's greatest thinkers. Brimming with jokes histories simple folk tales and great tragedies this impressive work offers something for everyone.