A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean

'A masterpiece.This is more than stunning fiction: It is a lyric record of a time and a life, shining with Maclean's special gift for calling the reader's attention to arts of all kinds-the arts that work in nature, in personality, in social intercourse, in fly-fishing.'-Kenneth M. There are thirteen two-color wood engravings. This handsome edition is designed and illustrated by Barry Moser. Based on Norman Maclean's childhood experiences, A River Runs Through It has established itself as one of the most moving stories of our time it captivates readers with vivid descriptions of life along Montana's Big Blackfoot River and its near magical blend of fly fishing with the troubling affections of the heart. From its first magnificent sentence, 'In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing', to the last, 'I am haunted by waters', A River Runs Through It is an American classic. By turns raunchy and elegiac, these superb tales express, in Maclean’s own words, “a little of the love I have for the earth as it goes by.Hardcover. It is a world populated with drunks, loggers, card sharks, and whores, but also one rich in the pleasures of fly-fishing, logging, cribbage, and family. Based on Maclean’s own experiences as a young man, the book’s two novellas and short story are set in the small towns and mountains of western Montana. This new edition will introduce a fresh audience to Maclean’s beautiful prose and understated emotional insights.Įlegantly redesigned, A River Runs through It includes a new foreword by Robert Redford, director of the Academy Award-winning 1992 film adaptation of River. The finely distilled product of a long life of often surprising rapture-for fly-fishing, for the woods, for the interlocked beauty of life and art- A River Runs through It has established itself as a classic of the American West.

One editor, so the story goes, replied, “it has trees in it.” Forty years later, the title novella is recognized as one of the great American tales of the twentieth century, and Maclean as one of the most beloved writers of our time. When Norman Maclean sent the manuscript of A River Runs through It and Other Stories to New York publishers, he received a slew of rejections.

A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean