After numerous literary triumphs for his previous eight books, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination, perhaps it was inevitable that Bruce Ducker would drift toward a book of short fiction about fly-fishing.
After all, anyone who spent more than four decades with a fly rod scarcely could resist putting to words all those pithy thoughts collected during the long lapses between bites.
“Home Pool — Stories of Fly Fishing and Lesser Passions” (Stackpole Books, $24.95) is a collection of previously published stories interspersed with original work. Ducker, who founded a Denver law firm that bears his name, draws comfort from familiar streams and circumstances. But he does not, in the strictest sense, write about fishing. Rather, he offers an assessment of the human condition as it is found in certain people who fish.
Readers who gravitate to the tedium of leaping trout and screaming reels will be disappointed with the book. Those who appreciate powerful composition laced with introspection decidely will not.
Ducker will sign his book at The Fly Fishing Show this week: 10:30 a.m. Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
