Fly-Fishin' Fool

"Fishermen often take themselves too seriously and the failing is even more common--not to mention annoying--among writers, but Jim Babb has somehow escaped all that. He has learned that if you tell the absolute truth about fishing, you'll become known as a humorist."--John Gierach

"Once could be an accident; twice might be coincidence; but three times is conclusive beyond a doubt. In his third book, Jim Babb proves yet again that he’s one of the funniest, most literate, most relentlessly ironic writers ever to poke a pen at the soft underbelly of fly-fishing. And here, he takes on his most formidable target to date—himself. Fly-Fishin’ Fool is Babb at the top of his game."--Ted Leeson

"Fool? Maybe, but the kind of holy fool and Zen savant who is far wiser than the solemn exponents of fly fishing's seriousness. He is also angling's funniest writer."--Steve Bodio

"The easiest thing to admire is Babb's wit, craft, and erudition. He's a language wizard with the range of a diva; as comfortable offering the broken knuckled perspectives of a lobsterman as with quoting Donne, Dickens, and Trollope."--Seth Norman

"I had as much fun reading these stories as Jim Babb had experiencing them, although I have never flung a fly-line in my life. Babb’s understated sense of adventure and his singular good humor serve him well: true to his Southern roots, he is a magnificent storyteller, a man never without a spell-binding yarn. His stories are lively, philosophical, impeccably crafted. This book has everything--wit, instruction, devotion, a good dose of serendipity, and just enough humbleness mixed with a modicum of chest-thumping. Plus a recipe thrown in for good measure! Fly-Fishin’ Fool is outrageous, intrepid, intelligent: what more could one want in a book?--Janisse Ray, author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home, and Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land

"Sometimes acerbic, sometimes wondrous, always fresh, the canon of fishing writing is far richer for Babb's indulgence in it, and more so with each new book."--Charles Rangeley-Wilson

"Fly-Fishin' Fool has a self-deprecating, confessional tone and the comic timing of Woody Allen."--Charles Rangeley-Wilson

"James Babb has a wildly off-beat sense of humour and an unrivalled ability to get it down on paper. And like the best story-tellers he whisks the reader along seductively."--Charles Rangeley-Wilson.