"Whats your favorite book no one else has ever heard of?"

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Mashbill

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NYT today has a interview with author / writer Rick Bass. Ive read his book " Winter ( notes from Montana ) - a wonderful book about solitude in winter, and relationships with others close to you. Bass is a excellent writer about the outdoors.

The nyt interviewer asked him the question i have in my subject line above. Bass responded .... " Goodbye to a River " by John Graves ... "an unforgettable journey of a young man paddling down a wild river about to be erased, turned into a flatwater lake, by dam". i thought many of you might be interested in this book.

That will be my next book - along with his new collection of essays coming out this month. Im very happy i saw this article!
 
I put Bass's book on my wish list along with Goodbye to a River. I thought this one by Graves was a recent writing, but I found it was written in 1960. Thanks for the tips.
 
The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James.
 
Vanishing Trout by Charles Lose. It's about brook trout fishing in NCPA back in the day.

It's been mentioned numerous times on this forum. But probably only a small percentage of people on here have read it.
 
It's hardly unknown, but a lesser talked about fishing book that is a favorite is McGuane's The Longest Silence. For the general public, I imagine it qualifies as unheard of.

My non-fishing pick would be Jack Black's You Can't Win, an awesome memoir about being a hobo/thief/deadbeat in the early 20th century. It has a little notoriety because William Burroughs namedropped it at times, but it still seems pretty obscure. Excellent book in both content and style.
 
troutbert said:
Vanishing Trout by Charles Lose. It's about brook trout fishing in NCPA back in the day.

It's been mentioned numerous times on this forum. But probably only a small percentage of people on here have read it.
Click to expand...
It's my favorite trout fishing book. It takes you back to a much simpler time. I reread it each year just before my season starts.
 
I own a few although some might be "known" somewhat:

"In the Sweet of the Year" by R. Palmer Baker​
​
"Salmon on the Dry Fly" by Maurice Wertheim​
​
"Fishing For Fun and to Wash Your Soul" by Herbert Hoover (yes, that Herbert Hoover)​
​
"A Wedding Gift" by John Traitor Foote​
​
"The Determined Angler and the Brook Trout" by Charles Bradford​
​
I also have a 1st edition of "The Vanishing Trout 😉
 
While not all are 1st editions, the copyrights on my books that I listed are 1965, 1948, 1963, 1924 & 1916 while my copy of the Vanishing Trout is from 1931.

The 1931 edition may read the same, but it doesn't smell the same... 😉

I actually bought it from Bill Haynes at Angler's Pro Shop for a song when he had a bunch of books there that he was selling on consignment.
 
Bamboozle said:
... while my copy of the Vanishing Trout is from 1931.

The 1931 edition may read the same, but it doesn't smell the same... 😉

I actually bought it from Bill Haynes at Angler's Pro Shop for a song when he had a bunch of books there that he was selling on consignment.
Click to expand...
That's awesome that you have an original copy! You're right, it doesn't smell the same. 🙂
 
wildtrout2 said:
That's awesome that you have an original copy! You're right, it doesn't smell the same. 🙂
Click to expand...

I lucked out on a LOT of books and got many for next to nothing at the used book shops I used to haunt when I lived in NYC.

For example, my copy of "Salmon on the Dry Fly" by Maurice Wertheim is a 1st edition from 1948, it was a privately published book limited to about 500 copies with photos PASTED in the book and parchment pages protecting the photos.

I found it at a book store two blocks from my Manhattan apartment and I think I paid under $5 because I was a broke-a$$ kid at the time so I know I wouldn't or couldn't have spent much more.

In the 1980's I got on a kick to have as many books in my collection as possible inscribed to me by any author still living. I'd knock on doors, see them at meetings of the Theodore Gordon Flyfishers or TU meetings in West Chester County, NY.

When I didn't have a way to meet the authors in person, I managed to get a bunch of books inscribed by calling or writing to the authors then mailing them the book with an included USPS money order to cover the return postage.

Because I included return postage, I also received letters, flies and all kinds of stuff from people like Nick Lyons, Eric Leiser, Ed Zern, Art Flick, R. Palmer Baker, Leonard Wright and a bunch of others.

Back on topic, have you ever read "The Determined Angler and the Brook Trout" by Charles Bradford (1916)?

If not you should as several Pocono streams are mentioned. There is a scanned copy of the same edition I have (2nd) on the Library of Congress website:

The determined angler and the brook trout; an anthological volume of trout fishing, trout histories, trout lore, trout resorts, and trout tackle,

First edition, 1900, published under title: The brook trout and the determined angler. Also available in digital form.
www.loc.gov
 
Bamboozle said:
I lucked out on a LOT of books and got many for next to nothing at the used book shops I used to haunt when I lived in NYC.

For example, my copy of "Salmon on the Dry Fly" by Maurice Wertheim is a 1st edition from 1948, it was a privately published book limited to about 500 copies with photos PASTED in the book and parchment pages protecting the photos.

I found it at a book store two blocks from my Manhattan apartment and I think I paid under $5 because I was a broke-a$$ kid at the time so I know I wouldn't or couldn't have spent much more.

In the 1980's I got on a kick to have as many books in my collection as possible inscribed to me by any author still living. I'd knock on doors, see them at meetings of the Theodore Gordon Flyfishers or TU meetings in West Chester County, NY.

When I didn't have a way to meet the authors in person, I managed to get a bunch of books inscribed by calling or writing to the authors then mailing them the book with an included USPS money order to cover the return postage.

Because I included return postage, I also received letters, flies and all kinds of stuff from people like Nick Lyons, Eric Leiser, Ed Zern, Art Flick, R. Palmer Baker, Leonard Wright and a bunch of others.

Back on topic, have you ever read "The Determined Angler and the Brook Trout" by Charles Bradford (1916)?

If not you should as several Pocono streams are mentioned. There is a scanned copy of the same edition I have (2nd) on the Library of Congress website:

The determined angler and the brook trout; an anthological volume of trout fishing, trout histories, trout lore, trout resorts, and trout tackle,

First edition, 1900, published under title: The brook trout and the determined angler. Also available in digital form.
www.loc.gov
Click to expand...
You're as dedicated a fly fisherman as I've seen yet.
 
Bamboozle said:
I lucked out on a LOT of books and got many for next to nothing at the used book shops I used to haunt when I lived in NYC.

For example, my copy of "Salmon on the Dry Fly" by Maurice Wertheim is a 1st edition from 1948, it was a privately published book limited to about 500 copies with photos PASTED in the book and parchment pages protecting the photos.

I found it at a book store two blocks from my Manhattan apartment and I think I paid under $5 because I was a broke-a$$ kid at the time so I know I wouldn't or couldn't have spent much more...
Click to expand...

I just checked the inside cover of "Salmon on the Dry Fly" by Maurice Wertheim...

I paid $2.95 😉

wildtrout2 said:
You're as dedicated a fly fisherman as I've seen yet.
Click to expand...

Not dedicated, just obsessed with those that came before me (especially the PA guys) who guided me with their experience and through their writing.

As I was entirely self taught decades before the Internet, those guys were my idols...
 
I read on another forum about The Vanishing Trout being a great read, so looked for it. Checked Amazon & E bay and was surprised how much they were. Found a copy In my local fly dealer's bookshelves and got it and a copy of Caddisflies by Gary LaFontain(another good book hard to find at a reasonable price), and another book for about $100. My copy was not only the 1931 edition but was in almost like new shape, and was in the original brown slipcase which looked like new. Going to have to read it soon as I love fishing brooks in the Poconos, and would like to see how it used to be.
 
brookiefan said:
I read on another forum about The Vanishing Trout being a great read, so looked for it. Checked Amazon & E bay and was surprised how much they were. Found a copy In my local fly dealer's bookshelves and got it and a copy of Caddisflies by Gary LaFontain(another good book hard to find at a reasonable price), and another book for about $100. My copy was not only the 1931 edition but was in almost like new shape, and was in the original brown slipcase which looked like new. Going to have to read it soon as I love fishing brooks in the Poconos, and would like to see how it used to be.
Click to expand...

Also seek out "The Determined Angler and the Brook Trout" by Charles Bradford that I mentioned and linked to in post #15.

It was written about 16 years earlier than "The Vanishing Trout" and recounts fishing on some specific Pocono streams.
 
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