Classic writing remains "classic" only insofar as people want to read it. Angling historians may study the evolution of tackle or tying techniques, or perhaps the methods of fishing used hundreds of years ago, but the wonderful stories about fishing are read and reread only because they give pleasure today; because they give us insights into why we fish and the nature of our passion; and because they are well written. This book offers sixteen of the best classic fishing stories that have stood the inescapable test of time.

The Best Fishing Stories Ever Told celebrates the art of hunting fish at many angles. This ancient tradition is practiced all over the world. Tales of baiting, angling, and the watery outdoors are recounted by great writers such as Rudyard Kipling, Guy de Maupassant, and Lord Byron. In scenic rivers, lakes, and seas, praise the trout, snap up that salmon, angle, aim, and sing the fisherman’s song! This superbly presented collection of fishing stories will set the reader sailing on the Loch or along the Thames and tracking down sharks or carp in many exciting waterways. You will find memories, essays, true stories, and fishing accounts more or less exaggerated or imagined. Their authors and their editor, Nick Lyons, all share a communicable passion for a great day out fishing—a passion only surpassed by the love of telling the tale with or without the catch to show! With work by more than one hundred of the world’s most eminent authors and fishermen, including: John McPhee Howell Raines Ted Leeson Jimmy Carter Lefty Kreh Dave Barry Norman Maclean Rudyard Kipling And many more!

This anthology of 20 short stories features some of today’s best mystery authors—from Lee Child to Jeffrey Deaver and Joyce Carol Oates. For the 2015 edition of The Best American Mystery Stories, guest editor James Patterson presents twenty tales with all the tension, drama, and visceral emotion of Oscar-worthy cinema. These stories features characters who must make desperate choices: an imaginative bank-robbing couple, a vengeful high school shooter, a lovesick heiress who will do anything for her man, and many others. In one standout entry, Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane team up to send legendary detective Harry Bosch after a child abductor. The Best American Mystery Stories, 2015 includes Tomiko M. Breland, Brendan DuBois, Janette Turner Hospital, Theresa E. Lehr, Doug Allyn, Andrew Bourelle, Joseph D’Agnese, Scott Grand, John M. Floyd, Steven Heighton, Richard Lange, Theresa E. Lehr, Lee Martin, and others. “These edgy tales strike hard and fast but Leave vivid memories behind.”—Kirkus

A collection of true-life fishing tales about big catches, bright seas, and the one that got away—from John Updike, Phil Caputo, Jim Harrison, and others. Anyone who appreciates a good story can appreciate the infinite resource that is the sport of fishing. This collection represents the very best stories about fishing to appear in Field & Stream throughout its 120-year history. It includes writers old and new, with tales infamous and unknown. A fishing story is, in the end, not about catching fish. What matters is the quest, the company, and the challenge. Here you’ll find stories of deep insight, incredible drama, and delightful humor from the likes of Bill Heavey, Zane Gray, Eddie Nickens, Ian Frazier, Kim Barnes, Thomas McGuane, and many others.

Long the dominant icon embodying the spirit of America's frontier past, the image of the cowboy no longer stands alone as the ultimate symbol of independence and self-reliance. The great canvas of the western landscape-in art, books, film-is today shared by the figures called "Mountain Men." They were the trappers of the Rocky Mountain fur trade in the years following Lewis and Clark's Expedition of 1804-1806. With their bold journeys peaking, during the period of 1830-1840, they were the first white men to enter the vast wilderness reaches of the Rockies in search of beaver "plews," as the skins were called. They feasted on the abundant buffalo, elk and other game, while living the ultimate free-spirited wilderness life. Often they paid the ultimate price for their ventures under the arrows, tomahawks, and knives of those native Americans whose lands they had entered. Tales of the Mountain Men, presents in one book many of the most engaging and revealing portraits of mountain men ever written. Ranging from nonfiction classics like Bernard DeVoto's Across the Wide Missouri through fiction from such acclaimed novels as A. B. Guthrie Jr.'s The Big Sky, this collection is destined to be well appreciated by the huge and dedicated audience fascinated by mountain man lore and legend. These readers include many who today participate in reenactments of the mountain man "Rendezvous," with colorful costumes and competitions of traditional skills with authentic guns, knives, and tools. No book exists today with such a diverse and engaging collection of mountain man literature. For an already-large and still-growing audience, Tales of the Mountain Men will be a valued extension of their interest in the mountain man as a compelling and uniquely American figure.

The Great American Wagon Road is the story of three completely different individuals who by chance find themselves traveling together to California. First we meet Leatherwood, a drifting street musician with a mysterious, tragic past. He hitches a ride with Paul, a stiff academic on a spiritual quest. But everything changes when they cross paths with Lara, a Grateful Dead fan who is returning to the mainstream after two years on the road. The book is first and foremost a compelling road narrative and a description of the dynamics of a sexual triangle. But the novel goes deeper, as it probes the classic themes of death, spirituality, love, and identity. Finally, it is an unforgettable rendering of the American Experience. The Great American Wagon Road is Book One of the trilogy, A Pilgrimage to Ojai. Book Two, narrated by Lara, is titled The Gathering at Big Sur. And Book Three is Paul's Ojai Journal. Each book is narrated by one of the three main characters and each is complete unto itself. However the three together form parts of a whole powerful story.