The book is a collection of essays written more about fly-fishing than sex. The writing is crisp and avoids any notion of being "flowery." Gierach is at his best when things go bad - real bad. In the context of fishing that is. The worst fishing conditions bring out his laser-focused wit in Sex, Death, and Fly-Fishing. And nobody or nothing is off-limits. He'll take a swing at "selective" trout and those "tweed-coat" types along with anyone else who happens to be near where he's fishing. A good example which had me laughing was "The Drought Years."

But it's not all laughs. Gierach has the unusual talent of sneaking in very lucid observations. Just when you think he's going to continue on his comedic-roll... Bang, he hits you with a simple truth of the matter. A truth you probably knew, but never saw put in words so simply and clearly.

Gierach can even render the philosophical without sounding philosophical. Again, he finds a way to express a concept like an "ecosystem" in terms I think we can all understand:

"A good ecologist can dovetail into dovetail until the whole thing stretches out of sight. We call it an ecosystem now; earlier Americans called it the Sacred Circle. Either way it can make your little head swim with a vision of a thing of great size and strength that still depends on the underpinning of its smallest members."

Makes sense... So, maybe it is about the birds and bees afterall.

I found this book to be less than exciting. The use of technical terms and Latin names of flies was not why I bought the book. I have liked Gierach's other books but was disappointed in this one.

Had me laughing out loud in the resort café. John Gierach captures the very essence of the sport....and will make your sides hurt while doing it!

Very entertaining. A great read for anyone interested in flyfishing or any other form of fishing.

After reading this book I want to go fishing.

The author does a good job of describing the special joys of this passtime. His writing paints a beautiful picture that draws in even the uninitiated.

Recommended for fishermen and non fishermen alike.

After reading this book I want to go fishing.

The author does a good job of describing the special joys of this passtime. His writing paints a beautiful picture that draws in even the uninitiated.

Recommended for fishermen and non fishermen alike.

Prurient readers titillated by the title will be disappointed. The only references to sex and death in this book have to do with the behavior of bugs - mayflies that is.

Here's an example. "A mayfly spinner lies on the surface of the stream in what fishermen call the `spent' position. To picture it accurately remember that the insect has just had the first and only orgasm of its life and is now, in the natural course of things, dying from it. His body lies flush with the water, wings spread, legs out flat, tails splayed wistfully. Usually he's limp. If he struggles at all, he does it feebly at best. There's probably a silly look on his face, although it's hard to tell with insects".

So accept it. What this book really is about is fly fishing, and the sex and death are there just to hook you. But can this kind of stuff also reel you in? You'll find yourself wading through material such as the following: "I tied on a #14 Michigan Chocolate spinner, a fly that A.K. had turned me onto years before. This thing has fine split tails of pale dun hackle fibers, spent hen hackle wings of the same color, and a thinly dubbed, dark brown body...".

You would think that this kind of gobbledygook would be accessible and interesting to hard core fisherpeople only, but it's not the case. I've never fly fished, and I was captivated by it.

I think the author puts it well: "I don't know exactly what fly fishing teaches us, but I think it's something we need to know".

Prurient readers titillated by the title will be disappointed. The only references to sex and death in this book have to do with the behavior of bugs - mayflies that is.

Here's an example. "A mayfly spinner lies on the surface of the stream in what fishermen call the `spent' position. To picture it accurately remember that the insect has just had the first and only orgasm of its life and is now, in the natural course of things, dying from it. His body lies flush with the water, wings spread, legs out flat, tails splayed wistfully. Usually he's limp. If he struggles at all, he does it feebly at best. There's probably a silly look on his face, although it's hard to tell with insects".

So accept it. What this book really is about is fly fishing, and the sex and death are there just to hook you. But can this kind of stuff also reel you in? You'll find yourself wading through material such as the following: "I tied on a #14 Michigan Chocolate spinner, a fly that A.K. had turned me onto years before. This thing has fine split tails of pale dun hackle fibers, spent hen hackle wings of the same color, and a thinly dubbed, dark brown body...".

You would think that this kind of gobbledygook would be accessible and interesting to hard core fisherpeople only, but it's not the case. I've never fly fished, and I was captivated by it.

I think the author puts it well: "I don't know exactly what fly fishing teaches us, but I think it's something we need to know".

I humbly admit that the title with sex in it made me curious since my partner (new man in my life) and I have a health libido that is matched only by the healthy fly fishing libido we share. So I bought the book, and am so glad I did.

Now I am a Montana, California, Washington and Idaho as well as New Zealand trout seeker so reading (this is where the sex comes in) of the northern Colorado Red Quill spinner and its short life span and how the fish love this bugaboo was truly fascinating. Since I had or have never given much though to the life cycles of various water bugs, flies I have seen dancing on the river tops as I have been fly fishing.

Chapter 13 titled RIVERS page 166 is utterly wonderful to read since I love small towns in remote areas near pristine rivers that are trout havens. So reading about similar areas like Frying Pan: Basalt, Colorado, the South Platte in Colorado, the Gunnison in Colorado, Roaring fork of the Colorado, the Green River in Utah, Bitterroot in Montana (which I know well), as well as the Yellowstone made me feel as if I were there. I could almost hear the water, the slight breeze and warmth of the sun as well as the sound of the inevitable fly that buzzed nearby. And at 11pm at night it would snap me from the pages and remind me that 'no' you cant go fish until morning.

What held my attention and makes this book a favorite read and a must for my bedside table is the states of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado written about so well. Guess having been to each state so often it is like a mini visit each time I re-read the book.

Make me want to grab Bill and suggest we move back to Montana where he as born and raised and where my Moms family roots go back to the early 1800's.