A new, expanded 20th-anniversary edition of the ground-breaking memoir Little Rivers: Tale of a Woman Angler by Margot Page.
The continuing chronicles of her evolution from reluctant student to passionate angler to married, angling young mother, to divorced, desk-bound angler are featured in this new, expanded edition of Little Rivers (first published in 1995). With this new edition, Margot Page continues her strong, evocative presence – a female presence – in the canon of fly-fishing literature.
In the 17 essays in this eloquent, acclaimed book, Page invites us to her home river, Vermont’s marble-banked Battenkill, to Cape Cod saltwater fishing for striped bass, to Montana's big waters, to the wild Alaskan landscape, and most compellingly to the passages that run through her life and echo our own. Her new personal essays also include a rare peek at the early years of the national nonprofit Casting for Recovery, of which she is a founding member. The book also features the exquisite watercolors by Anton Stetzko, presented in full-color for the first time.
10% of all proceeds from the sale of the new Little Rivers will be donated to Casting for Recovery, a national nonprofit organization that provides free retreats around the U.S. helping women with breast cancer through the therapeutic sport of fly fishing.
“While more and more books seem to reach too far, try too hard, and claim too much, there are a few that are content to be, modestly, what they are and to say to the reader, merely, ‘Enjoy.’ So many books are physically heavy and intellectually ponderous that you come across something like Little Rivers by Margot Page with relief and delight. It is the kind of book that reminds you of what people mean when they talk about reading for pleasure.”
“Here’s the unusual fly-fishing book by a woman, one who is, moreover, an angler who knows what she is doing and doesn’t have to take second place to any fisherman.... Page refreshingly doesn’t present the pumped-up prose most male fisher-writers indulge in. Rather, she just tells a few tales about her fishing experiences, producing a book, that ... is a kinder, gentler read than we normally get from its genre. An enjoyable read that anglers should take the time to get to know.”
"In essays both witty and moving, Page invites the reader to join her as she revels in the sport and the natural world as an angler, a woman, a mother, and a remarkable storyteller.”
“Gracious and gracefully written ... notable among angling books. Page seems to know where to draw the line and when to put the snapshots back in her wallet. At her best, she writes in a well-schooled lyric realism that reminds me of Gretel Ehrlich of The Solace of Open Spaces, one of the finest recent books about the West.”
“One of our most respected angling writers ... Margot Page can’t write an ungraceful sentence. I’ll take this elegant book any day.”
“Author Margot Page has written this for every woman who has ever thought about fly fishing. Page’s graceful prose in Little Rivers describes the differences between men’s and women’s approaches to fishing; it also deal with issues in life.”
“A unique look at the world of fly fishing and at one woman’s place in it.”
“As lovely, lyrical, and irresistible as a spring creek ... a graceful intertwining of fishing yarns with meditations on the sorrows and pleasures of life.”
“This gorgeously illustrated, tight-knit little collection of essays is a joyous book, full of rich generational dimensions, and informed throughout by the life of water. The essays range widely and are full of wonderful anecdotes.”
“Page adds a touch of light poetry to a genre little known for graceful writing.”
“This splendid collection of essays, reprinted from periodicals like the New York Times, Rod & Reel, and Trout, is remarkable especially because Page is able to be lyrical while writing matter-of-fact prose. The book’s charm is enhanced by [her] personal history.”
“The kind of lucidity, wit, and passion that makes writing that endures ... Margot Page has the freshest, most original eye fly-fishing literature has been blessed with in years.”
