It’s winter and we’re bored out of our minds… Down in the valley, I watch the rain fall, swelling the river. Will it overflow again? Last time, we got stuck and had to wait three days for the water to recede before we could get our car out and return to civilization. Higher up, when the clouds part, I can see the snow-covered mountains of Aubrac region. In short, it’s winter and there’s nothing to do. Of course, I could tie flies like a Stakhanovite, but I’m terrible at it (although I could improve…). Or I could watch TV series, but most of them only air one episode a week, and I hate frustration… So, I went to my favorite store, “l’Epicerie du Trou,” to buy cheese, leeks, and pâté. But this grocery store has a special feature (aside from the best products from Aveyron): they have a book section! And there, catching my eye, practically reaching out to me, was this book by John Gierach that I hadn’t read: On the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman. Gierach has always had a strange effect on me. I like his stories, but I don’t really like the way he writes… maybe it’s badely translated into French. But there, in the middle of winter, I decided not to care and to immerse myself in the stories that make up this book. I forgot the snow on Aubrac, I forgot the river swelling with its brown waters, I plunged into this book as if into a school of trout and my mind raced through the Rockies, it was me who was living the adventures I was reading! There I was, rod in hand, fishing for rainbow trout in dreamlike settings. I could feel the mountain air and the summer heat, taste the awful coffee and smell the America that is not the one I read about in the press today. A hell of a book that you absolutely must get your hands on!
