Thomas McGuane

From the award-winning "master of the short story" (The New York Times Book Review)--nine shattering, hilarious tales of men on the outskirts of America, habituating the motels, hot dog stands, and dive bars time forgot, grappling with a world that is swiftly changing, and dreaming of a return to the wooded shores of their youth In these nine peerless stories, a family boating trip veers into emotional disaster while very narrowly avoiding the physical; a would-be cheater hands over his car--his prized possession--for a shot with a pretty girl; a furniture magnate and his filmmaker daughter visit his impoverished hometown; a doctor's long-ago affair returns with a bitter pill. Crackling with wry humor, shot through with both wisdom and pain, these are stories of grifters and dreamers, of the lovelorn and the lawless, stories of the ongoing dissonance between the lives we want and the lives this world will allow.

"My Life in Fishing is a poignant reminder of what true legends are made of." - Andy Mill, Olympian, five-time Gold Cup Champion, and author of A Passion for TarponStu Apte is one of the most recognized and storied figures in saltwater fishing - in all of fishing - and a larger-than-life legend in the sport. He has held, or still holds, over six dozen IGFA world records for various species, gear, line, and tippet. In My Life in Fishing, as only the most accomplished captain and guide can, he shares his tips and insights gleaned from this lifelong pursuit for any and every species, including especially giant tarpon. These are his favorite personal stories, about world records, and winds, and tides, and patterns, and flies, but also about the remarkable people who have fished their way through his life. There are stories and glimpses that you won't find in other history books - an amusing episode with Harry and Bess Truman on board Stu's skiff, an impromptu side-of-the-road meeting with baseball hall-of-famer Ted Williams that led to a forty-year friendship, and an afternoon of drinking Cuban mojitos aboard Pilar with Earnest Hemingway that includes Hemingway's own mojito recipe. My Life in Fishing is more than a collection of engaging stories and fly fishing pointers; it is a glimpse of the development and evolution of the sport, and of saltwater fly fishing at its highest level, through the eyes and anecdotes of the only man who can tell the stories. My Life in Fishing is a seminal work to be treasured by everyone who shares his passion for the sport and the stories that surround it."I don't believe anyone has equaled his achievements as a tarpon fisherman: he caught world-record fish, he guided others to world records, and he established the ways it would always be done. Others have caught bigger tarpon in the years since, strictly as anglers, guided by others who found the fish. Apte mastered all parts of the puzzle, from exploration and boatsmanship to the moment of landing. That stands alone." - Thomas McGuane, author of The Longest Silence, from the Foreword "Witty, instructive, and engaging, this master of rod and reel is an angler's angler, and My Life in Fishing is the equivalent of a day in the flats on a school of permit." - Tom Brokaw, former NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor, host of Buccaneers & Bones"If stories of angling challenges send your pulse into overdrive as they do mine, My Life in Fishing is a must read " - Sandy Moret, Founder, Florida Keys Fly Fishing School and Florida Keys Outfitters

From the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade Set in the seedy corners of Key West, the remote shore towns of the Bahamas, and the unforgiving landscape of Big Sky Country, a "uniformly brilliant" collection (The New York Times Book Review) of familial dysfunction, emotional failure, and American loneliness that celebrates the human ability to persist through life's absurdities For more than four decades, Thomas McGuane has been heralded as an unrivaled master of the short story. Now the arc of that achievement appears in one definitive volume--forty-five stories, including two new and six previously uncollected pieces. These are stories of people on the fringes of society, whose twisted pasts meddle with their chances for companionship, moving from the hilarious to the tragic and back again. "A master of the short story... Cloudbursts is clearly the product of a life's worth of thought and feeling and experience; it ought to be savored." --The New York Times Book Review

From the highly acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts comes a collection of alternately playful and exquisite essays--including seven collected here for the first time--borne of a lifetime spent fishing. "Thomas McGuane writes about fishing better than anyone else in the history of mankind." --Jim Harrison, New York Times bestselling author of Legends of the Fall The forty extraordinary pieces in The Longest Silence take the reader from the tarpon of Florida to the salmon of Iceland, from the bonefish of Mexico to the trout of Montana. They introduce characters as varied as a highly literate Canadian frontiersman and a devoutly Mormon river guide and address issues ranging from the esoteric art of tying flies to the enduring philosophy of a seventeenth-century angler to the trials of the aging fisherman. Both reverent and hilarious by turns, and infused with a deep experience of wildlife and the outdoors, The Longest Silence sets the heart pounding for a glimpse of moving water and demonstrates what dedication to sport reveals about life.

Set in Big Sky Country, a triumphant collection of stories written with a comic genius in the vein of Twain and Gogol--from from the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts, "one of America's best short-story writers of the last 50 years" (The Boston Globe) These stories attest to the generous compass of Thomas McGuane's fellow feeling, as well as to his unique way with words. In this collection, filled with grace and humor, the ties of family make for uncomfortable binds: A devoted son is horrified to discover his mother's antics before she slipped into dementia, and a father's outdoor skills are no match for a change in the weather. But complications arise equally in the absence of blood, as when lifelong friends on a fishing trip finally confront their deep dislike for each other. Or when a gifted traveling cattle breeder succumbs to the lure of a stranger's offer of easy money. McGuane is as witty and large-hearted as we have ever known him, and Crow Fair is a jubilant, thunderous confirmation of his status as a modern master.

Now completely revised and updated, with full-color photographs and family-friendly recipes throughout. The deeply personal story of a father learning to share his love of nature with his children, not through the indoor lens of words or pictures, but directly, palpably, by exploring the natural world as they forage, cook and eat from the woods and sea. This compelling, masterfully written tale follows Dylan Tomine and his family through four seasons as they hunt chanterelles, fish for salmon, dig clams and gather at the kitchen table, mouths watering, to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Closer to the Ground captures the beauty and surprise of the natural world -- and the ways it teaches us how to live -- with humor, gratitude and a nose for adventure as keen as a child's. It is a book filled with weather, natural history and many delicious meals.

In these nine intensely compelling essays, with a new preface, bestselling author Tom McGuane shares remarkable stories of the exceptional horses and horsemen he has known as he learned roping, cutting, dallying, and ultimately trust. He addresses the special and profound relationship between humans and horses: what horses reveal about us, what we can learn from them, what they learn from us, and the symbiosis that results from a perfect match. The relationship between rider and horse runs deeper than any show or job, and McGuane's work with both animals and humans over the years provides a rich and nuanced depth of understanding about every level of the bond that he explores in his elegant, award-winning prose.

Closer to the Ground is the deeply personal story of a father learning to share his love of nature with his children, not through the indoor lens of words or pictures, but directly, palpably, by exploring the natural world as they forage, cook and eat from the woods and sea. With illustrations by Nikki McClure. This compelling, masterfully written tale follows Dylan Tomine and his family through four seasons as they hunt chanterelles, fish for salmon, dig clams and gather at the kitchen table, mouths watering, to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Closer to the Ground captures the beauty and surprise of the natural world--and the ways it teaches us how to live--with humor, gratitude and a nose for adventure as keen as a child's. It is a book filled with weather, natural history and many delicious meals.

The unforgettable story of a housepainter turned doctor in Big Sky country who finds himself on a darkly funny journey to salvation in this "irrepressibly comic and optimistic" novel (The New York Times Book Review) from the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts Berl Pickett is living in the small town of Livingston, Montana. The son of Pentecostal rug-shampooers, Pickett has never been the social toast of the town, but when he is accused of negligent homicide in the death of his former lover, he finds himself ostracized by his colleagues and realizes just how small his little village truly is. But fortunately for Berl, the very thing that sets him apart--his inability to follow the pack--proves to be his saving grace. With this inglorious hero, McGuane has created an unforgettable voyager.

Few books have captured the haunting world of music and rivers and of the sport they provide as well as A River Never Sleeps. Roderick L. Haig-Brown writes of fishing not just as a sport, but also as an art. He knows moving water and the life within it?its subtlest mysteries and perpetual delights. He is a man who knows fish lore as few people ever will, and the legends and history of a great sport. Month by month, he takes you from river to river, down at last to the saltwater and the sea: in January, searching for the steelhead in the dark, cold water; in May, fishing for bright, sea-run cutthroats; and on to the chilly days of October and the majestic run of spawning salmon. All the great joy of angling is here: the thrill of fishing during a thunderstorm, the sight of a river in freshet or a river calm and hushed, the suspense of a skillful campaign to capture some half-glimpsed trout or salmon of extraordinary size, and the excitement of playing and landing a momentous fish. A River Never Sleeps is one of the enduring classics of angling. It will provide a rich reading experience for all who love fishing or rivers.

From the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts--the stories of Gallatin Canyon are rich in the wit, compassion, and matchless language for which Thomas McGuane is celebrated. Set mostly in famed Big Sky Country, McGuane brings us an "astonishing" (The New York Times Book Review) collection in which place exerts the power of destiny. A boy makes a surprising discovery skating at night on Lake Michigan; an Irish clan in Massachusetts gather around their dying matriarch; a battered survivor of the glory days of Key West washes up on other shores. Several of the stories unfold in Big Sky country: a father tries to buy his adult son's way out of virginity; a convict turns cowhand on a ranch; a couple makes a fateful drive through a perilous gorge. McGuane's people are seekers, beguiled by the land's beauty and myth, compelled by the fantasy of what a locale can offer, forced to reconcile dream and truth.

Place exerts the power of destiny in these ten stories of lives uncannily recognisable and unforgettably strange: a boy makes a surprising discovery skating at night on Lake Michigan; Several of the stories unfold in Big Sky country, McGuane's signature landscape: a father tries to buy his adult son out of virginity;

Set on the majestic stage of Montana cattle country, an unforgettable drama from the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts involving blood, money, sex, vengeance, and a cross-dressing rancher " McGuane's] sentences are like no one else's, crisp and spare, yet somehow baroque and] perpetually balance the picaresque against the sublime." --The New Yorker Sunny Jim Whitelaw, a descendent of pioneers and owner of a large bottling plant, may have died, but he has no intention of relinquishing control: his will specifies that no one gets a cent unless his daughter Evelyn reconciles with her estranged husband, Paul. But Evelyn is a strong-willed woman, fiercely attached to the land, whose horses transport her to a West she feels is disappearing, while Paul is a suave manipulator, without scruples, intent on living well. The Cadence of Grass is renewed evidence that McGuane is one of the finest writers we have, capable of simultaneously burnishing and demolishing the mythology of the West while doing rope tricks with the English language.

The Whitelaw patriach, Sunny Jim, exerts his perverse control even in death, by means of a will that binds the family fortune to a marriage that ought to be rent asunder. The charms of this particular son-in-law, lately released from prison, are potent, especially as regards his estranged wife.

Thomas McGuane's obsession with fish has taken him from the river in his backyard to the holiest waters of the fly-fisher's world.

A hilarious novel about boyhood rivalries gone terribly wrong from the highly acclaimed author of Cloudbursts and Ninety-two in the Shade Two old friends strike up an old feud filled with dangerous games on the vast preserve of their hunting club in this rollicking story of boyhood rivalries pushed to the limit. McGuane is "a major American writer, one of the ... best of his generation" (Time magazine).

Cressy has grown up in a world of women, presided over by her eccentric, artistic grandfather Harry Bretton. Rebelling against the wholesome, organic values of her home life, Cressy decides to leave home in search of more ephemeral pleasures. Taking a job in an antiques shop, she meets David, a self-satisfied journalist, also looking for means of fleeing the family nest. But as Cressy cannot fend for herself and David is securely tied to his mother's apron strings, this act of escape for both of them proves a powerful form of bondage. This quietly ironic exploration of the invisible shackles that tie children to parents is one of Elizabeth Taylor's most ambitious novels.

A ruefully funny novel of embattled manhood, set in Big Sky Country--by the highly acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts, with writing "so dazzlingly acute and seemingly effortless that it infuses Nothing but Blue Skies with exuberance and wit."--Chicago Tribune This high-spirited and fiercely lyrical novel chronicles the fall and rise of Frank Copenhaver, a man so unhinged by his wife's departure that he finds himself ruining his business, falling in love with the wrong women, and wandering the lawns of his neighborhood, desperate for the merest glimpse of normalcy. The result is a Montana where cowboys slug it out with speculators, a cattleman's best friend may be his insurance broker, and love and fishing are the only consolations that last. "Vibrant with the pleasures of ironic language, play and chase, and quick with broken-hearted humor."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

Joe Starling, a man teetering on the edge of spectacular failures--as an artist, rancher, lover, and human being--is also a man of noble ambitions. His struggle to right himself is mesmerizing, hilarious, and profoundly moving.