A sportsman's library : 100 essential, engaging, offbeat, and occasionally odd fishing and hunting books for the adventurous reader

A Sportsman's Library: The 100 Books that Every Hunter and Fisherman Should Own will consist of 100 short “reviews” (for lack of a better word), each one from 300 to 1500 words, and illustrated with either the cover of the book or a photo of the book's author. The list will include all the beloved classics, but will add plenty of lesser-known titles as well. It will range in time from Izaak Walton's 17th century to 21st century tiger poachers in eastern Siberia, and geographically from the Catskills to the Keys, from England's chalk streams to Jim Corbett's India. It will take pleasure in those books that explain the intricate beauty of the classic salmon fly as well the astonishing craftsmanship of a Best London double, the science of the hunt as well as the hunt's depiction in art. Stephen J. Bodio's famous review column in Gray's Sporting Journal (1981-1992) included discussions on everything from hook and bullet how-tos to modern novels and science writing. Continuing in that tradition, A Sportsman's Library: 100 Essential, Engaging, Off-Beat, and Occasionally Odd Fishing and Hunting Books for the Adventurous Reader draws on the same wide-ranging curiosity and encyclopedic knowledge of sporting literature that informed Bodio's Review. From all the familiar, beloved classicsbooks by Izaak Walton, Robert Ruark, and Norman Macleanto the hidden gems that no one but Bodio could have uncovered (ancient treatises on falconry, and modern considerations of the catfish as metaphor), each one of these short reviews is illustrated in color and presented in a browsable, easy-to-read format. Nowhere else could an explanation of the intricate beauty of a classic salmon fly rub elbows with a consideration of the craftsmanship of a Best London double. And rarely do you see the science of the hunt juxtaposed against the hunt's depiction in art. Introduction by television personality and outdoor writer Jameson Parker.