Black River Dreams

by Maximilian Werner

A celebration of fly fishing, 16 essays explore past and present, spirit and body, water and land, trout and people.

158 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Maximilian Werner is the author of the award-winning essay collection "Black River Dreams" and the upcoming novel "Crooked Creek." When he is not fly fishing on one of his favorite western waters, or elbow-deep in the garden dirt, he is at home writing or in the classroom teaching and trying to help humans live up to their potential as a species.

Reviews

[ron swegman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black River Dreams is the book debut of Maximilian Werner, a poet turned fly fishing philosopher, who is no stranger to readers of serious creative outdoor writing. He contributes a regular column -- "My Stories from Utah" -- to Fly Rod & Reel magazine and his short story "Anglers Ball" took second place in the 2008 Robert Traver Fly-Fishing Writing Award.

Werner's collection of sixteen essays takes the form of a triptych in structure and reveals a careful, even, and well-crafted authorial voice. Within these pages one encounters a boyhood trip to Maine, a float trip on the Green River that does not flow as smoothly as planned, ruminations on ecological themes, and throughout a celebration of fly fishing not just as a sport, but as a mode of transportion, one that takes an individual into the wider, more profound, natural world that both sustains and inspires us.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Werner says he enjoys the mysticism of Maclean and the biological realism of Hemingway; the sensitive reader will feel the influence of each in this collection. Never pretentious, often self-deprecating, you’ll walk with Werner through some of his worst angling moments, but some of his best and most beautiful, too. The penultimate essay “Anglers’ Ball,” a meditation on a day of fishing with a dying friend, is worth the price of the book.