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On the Big Blackfoot
On the Big Blackfoot is Norman Maclean's memoir about his Montana youth that inspired his beloved story, A River Runs Through It. In this archival recording, Norman Maclean reflects about his father, his brother, Paul, and the fly fishing that united them to one another and the natural world. Interwoven throughout are the musings and memories of his own son, Chicago Tribune journalist John Maclean--son remembers father, father recalls brother. Set against the gurgling sounds of the Big Blackfoot River, their voices recount a bittersweet love across the generations. It's a story sure to leave the listener, like Norman Maclean, "haunted by waters."
- GenresMemoir
60 pages, Audio CD
First published March 1, 2000
About the author
Norman Maclean
52 books421 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Born in Clarinda, Iowa, on December 23, 1902, Maclean was the son of Clara Davidson (1873-1952) and the Rev. John Maclean (1862-1941), a Scottish Presbyterian minister, who managed much of the education of the young Norman and his brother Paul (1906-1938) until 1913. The family relocated to Missoula, Montana in 1909. The following years were a considerable influence on and inspiration to his writings, appearing prominently in the short story The Woods, Books, and Truant Officers (1977), and semi-autobiographical novella A River Runs Through It (1976).
Too young to enlist in the military during World War I, Maclean worked in logging camps and for the United States Forest Service in what is now the Bitterroot National Forest of northwestern Montana. The novella USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky and the story "Black Ghost" in Young Men and Fire (1992) are semi-fictionalized accounts of these experiences.
Maclean attended Dartmouth College, where he served as editor-in-chief of the humor magazine the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern; the editor-in-chief to follow him was Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. He was also a member of the Sphinx (senior society) and Beta Theta Pi. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1924, and chose to remain in Hanover, New Hampshire, and serve as an instructor until 1926—a time he recalled in "This Quarter I Am Taking McKeon: A Few Remarks on the Art of Teaching." He began graduate studies in English at the University of Chicago in 1928. Three years later he was hired as a professor at University of Chicago, where he received three Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. On 24 September 1931 Maclean married Jessie Burns (died 1968), a red-headed Scots-Irish woman from Wolf Creek, Montana. They later had two children: a daughter Jean (born in 1942), now a lawyer; and a son, John (born in 1943), now a journalist and author of Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire (1999), and two other books, Fire & Ashes (2003) and The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal (2007).
In 1940, Maclean earned his doctorate from the University of Chicago where during World War II he declined a commission in Naval intelligence to serve as Dean of Students. During the war he also served as Director of the Institute on Military Studies, and co-authored Manual of Instruction in Military Maps and Aerial Photographs. At the University of Chicago, Maclean taught Shakespeare and the Romantic poets, and he produced two scholarly articles, "From Action to Image: Theories of the Lyric in the Eighteenth Century" and "Episode, Scene, Speech, and Word: The Madness of Lear." (The latter essay elaborates a theory of tragedy that Maclean would revisit in his later work; the essay is available here.) From approximately 1959 to 1963, Maclean worked on a book about George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn that he never completed, but from which excerpts were recently published. During his last decade on the Chicago faculty, Maclean held an endowed chair as William Rainey Harper Professor of English. After his retirement in 1973, he began, as his children Jean and John had often encouraged him, to write down the stories he liked to tell. His most acclaimed story, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories was published in 1976, the first work of original fiction published by the University of Chicago Press. This title was nominated by a selection committee to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Letters in 1977, but the full committee ignored the nomination and did not award a Pulitzer in that category for the year. A River Runs Through It was adapted into a motion picture directed by Robert Redford
Born in Clarinda, Iowa, on December 23, 1902, Maclean was the son of Clara Davidson (1873-1952) and the Rev. John Maclean (1862-1941), a Scottish Presbyterian minister, who managed much of the education of the young Norman and his brother Paul (1906-1938) until 1913. The family relocated to Missoula, Montana in 1909. The following years were a considerable influence on and inspiration to his writings, appearing prominently in the short story The Woods, Books, and Truant Officers (1977), and semi-autobiographical novella A River Runs Through It (1976).
Too young to enlist in the military during World War I, Maclean worked in logging camps and for the United States Forest Service in what is now the Bitterroot National Forest of northwestern Montana. The novella USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky and the story "Black Ghost" in Young Men and Fire (1992) are semi-fictionalized accounts of these experiences.
Maclean attended Dartmouth College, where he served as editor-in-chief of the humor magazine the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern; the editor-in-chief to follow him was Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. He was also a member of the Sphinx (senior society) and Beta Theta Pi. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1924, and chose to remain in Hanover, New Hampshire, and serve as an instructor until 1926—a time he recalled in "This Quarter I Am Taking McKeon: A Few Remarks on the Art of Teaching." He began graduate studies in English at the University of Chicago in 1928. Three years later he was hired as a professor at University of Chicago, where he received three Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. On 24 September 1931 Maclean married Jessie Burns (died 1968), a red-headed Scots-Irish woman from Wolf Creek, Montana. They later had two children: a daughter Jean (born in 1942), now a lawyer; and a son, John (born in 1943), now a journalist and author of Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire (1999), and two other books, Fire & Ashes (2003) and The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal (2007).
In 1940, Maclean earned his doctorate from the University of Chicago where during World War II he declined a commission in Naval intelligence to serve as Dean of Students. During the war he also served as Director of the Institute on Military Studies, and co-authored Manual of Instruction in Military Maps and Aerial Photographs. At the University of Chicago, Maclean taught Shakespeare and the Romantic poets, and he produced two scholarly articles, "From Action to Image: Theories of the Lyric in the Eighteenth Century" and "Episode, Scene, Speech, and Word: The Madness of Lear." (The latter essay elaborates a theory of tragedy that Maclean would revisit in his later work; the essay is available here.) From approximately 1959 to 1963, Maclean worked on a book about George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn that he never completed, but from which excerpts were recently published. During his last decade on the Chicago faculty, Maclean held an endowed chair as William Rainey Harper Professor of English. After his retirement in 1973, he began, as his children Jean and John had often encouraged him, to write down the stories he liked to tell. His most acclaimed story, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories was published in 1976, the first work of original fiction published by the University of Chicago Press. This title was nominated by a selection committee to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Letters in 1977, but the full committee ignored the nomination and did not award a Pulitzer in that category for the year. A River Runs Through It was adapted into a motion picture directed by Robert Redford
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 22, 2024
A go-along volume to “a river runs through it,” of only 60 pages length. Ironically, they made this into an audio book that is 75% listening to nothing but water ripples from the big Blackfoot. It was neat to hear the excerpts in the author’s own voice but I cannot quite grasp a larger appeal than that. For die hard fly fishers, it is an eccentric roadside attraction to have a brief mention of as the symbolic car continues on its path of life, never stopping to truly explore. It is a curiosity, but I’m afraid not very substantive.
December 28, 2018
Why did I spend good cash for this trash? It's a testimonial to the author's father, who made a book that I did not like much. Lucky for that family, it got made into a movie...which made it famous. Now, everybody is gaga over it. This testimonial started about fly fishing, a good subject. However, the (less than 1 hour long) audio book is at least 1/3 air and music. I felt so ripped off that I put it in the category of DBF (did not finish).
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March 14, 2026Audible suggested this “audiobook” with John and Norman Maclean that was about to drop out of the listeners group. It was about an hour long with awful water running sound effects. I think it was Norman reading bits from “A River Runs Through It” and maybe answering a few questions, but then it was his son talking. Interesting to hear Norman's voice, but not great. There was no introduction or explanation for what the various segments were...just odd.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 31, 2018
Sometimes boring when he is just talking about fly fishing, as I have never fly fished, but this becomes a great read when you hear him connecting fishing to something larger, more philosophical. Made me want to read the actual book.
March 7, 2023
Loved the audio version. Great excerpt of movie music and great interviews.
October 17, 2024
A lovely and brief memoir by MacLean. Though I’m not into fishing I was enchanted by this story.
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November 9, 2024These were excerpts from the amazing novella "A River Runs Through It" which I also read in 2024 with memories of the next generation - his son John who he also fished with as he had done his father and brother. One touching memory shared was that even in his 80s going to the river he would still sometimes shout his brother's name. There is also an interview with the author.
September 14, 2021
A dramatic adaption of a partial reading of A River Ran Through It. The narrators are very good. Approximately two hours of listening.
October 13, 2015
"audiobook" with large expanses of water music and silence, and not much content in particular. From the sons of the man who wrote "A River Runs Through It" (interviews with the author, reflections about their dad, a little bit about fly fishing, etc.)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews