Overview

Leaping effortlessly from the bright stream into the human mind, the trout captivates like no other fish. In telling its story James Owen follows the trout around the world; starting in Europe and North America, he then embarks for exotic new territories with a voyage that took the creature from England to Australia in the nineteenth-century. Trout will delight and surprise anglers who have ever cast a fly to it, or anyone who has ever stopped to look in the water from a bridge, hoping for a tantalizing glimpse of this very special fish.

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9781861898777

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Reviews

[A] wonderfully diverse monograph. . . . Although scientifically sound throughout, the value of Trout lies as much in its sensitive account of the part these iconic fishes have played in the cultural history of mankind. Owen's effortless prose strides across continents, in the process beguiling us with a cast of characters which includes obscure saints, fly-fishing nuns, homesick empire-builders and a louche jazz singer, all united in their love for the most beautiful of fishes. --TLS In short, this is a brilliant little miscellany of trouty facts, fictions and stuff we should all know. And, as promised, it brings the story right up to date, complete with well-footnoted discussion of the latest thinking on trout conservation and genetics, from Norway's forests to Albania's Lake Ohrid, and the globe-spanning efforts of WWF, Trout Unlimited and its British equivalent, the Wild Trout Trust. --Theo Pike, Caught by the River online review There have been dozens of book about the splendours of trout (I even wrote one myself), but seldom have I read one as evocative and concise as this. . . . James Owen is a pacy, eclectic author, and clearly an aficionado. . . . He has an eye for quirky detail (the illustrations are notably imaginative) and there was much here that was new to me. . . . This is a perfectly delicious little volume, that surely raises the bar for subsequent piscine literature. I can scarcely recommend it highly enough. --David Profumo, Country Life Dense with facts, anecdotes, potted histories and excellent photographs and illustrations . . . Owen's research has been rigorous and thorough. . . . James Owen has done a wonderful job, in a short space, documenting how the trout has permeated human life. --Trout and Salmon Magazine At times, Trout reads like a richly illustrated compendium of trivia, but the trivia is so compelling that it almost becomes the central appeal of the book. . . . The breezy prose and the amazing attention to detail--and to the bizarre histories in particular--will make it of interest to almost every scholar of the complex human response to the non-human world. --Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment

There have been dozens of book about the splendours of trout (I even wrote one myself), but seldom have I read one as evocative and concise as this. . . . James Owen is a pacy, eclectic author, and clearly an aficionado. . . . He has an eye for quirky detail (the illustrations are notably imaginative) and there was much here that was new to me. . . . This is a perfectly delicious little volume, that surely raises the bar for subsequent piscine literature. I can scarcely recommend it highly enough. --David Profumo, Country Life [A] wonderfully diverse monograph. . . . Although scientifically sound throughout, the value of Trout lies as much in its sensitive account of the part these iconic fishes have played in the cultural history of mankind. Owen's effortless prose strides across continents, in the process beguiling us with a cast of characters which includes obscure saints, fly-fishing nuns, homesick empire-builders and a louche jazz singer, all united in their love for the most beautiful of fishes. --TLS Dense with facts, anecdotes, potted histories and excellent photographs and illustrations . . . Owen's research has been rigorous and thorough. . . . James Owen has done a wonderful job, in a short space, documenting how the trout has permeated human life. --Trout and Salmon Magazine In short, this is a brilliant little miscellany of trouty facts, fictions and stuff we should all know. And, as promised, it brings the story right up to date, complete with well-footnoted discussion of the latest thinking on trout conservation and genetics, from Norway's forests to Albania's Lake Ohrid, and the globe-spanning efforts of WWF, Trout Unlimited and its British equivalent, the Wild Trout Trust. --Theo Pike, Caught by the River online review At times, Trout reads like a richly illustrated compendium of trivia, but the trivia is so compelling that it almost becomes the central appeal of the book. . . . The breezy prose and the amazing attention to detail--and to the bizarre histories in particular--will make it of interest to almost every scholar of the complex human response to the non-human world. --Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment

Author Information

James Owen is a journalist and writer who (when he is not fishing for trout) is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

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