Guy de la Valdène – författare

From the acclaimed author of Fragrance of Grass comes a meditation on water and nature, fishing and growing older.  On the Water is a gorgeously written collection of essays that all take place on or near the water and pay tribute to the flora and fauna associated with those ecosystems. There are essays about the finer points of tickling rainbow trout in the streams of Normandy, and of eagles and ospreys fishing for bass while barely breaking the surface of the water. There are stories of droughts and floods, of dogs and boats, of worms and rattlesnakes and even of catching and cooking soft-shell turtles that taste like osso-bucco. There is fishing and diving in the Bahamas, tarpon fishing in the Florida Keys, and fly fishing for sailfish in Central America.  And there are larger-than-life personalities that are bigger than the fish tales they tell! On the Water is a finely honed and well crafted collection of tales for the true sportsman and makes for a  perfect companion volume to la Valdene’s celebrated collection of essays on hunting.

On the Water is a gorgeously written collection of essays that all take place on or near the water and pay tribute to the flora and fauna associated with those ecosystems. There are essays about the finer points of tickling rainbow trout in the streams of Normandy, and of eagles and ospreys fishing for bass while barely breaking the surface of the water. There are stories of droughts and floods, of dogs and boats, of worms and rattlesnakes and even of catching and cooking soft-shell turtles that taste like osso-bucco. There is fishing and diving in the Bahamas, tarpon fishing in the Florida Keys, and fly fishing for sailfish in Central America. And there are larger-than-life personalities that are bigger than the fish tales they tell! On the Water is a finely honed and well crafted collection of tales for the true sportsman and makes for a perfect companion volume to la Valdene’s celebrated collection of essays on hunting.

Guy de la Valdène’s beautifully written essay (and first book) is an ode to an iconic bird, part natural history, and part hunting memoir. It’s a well-regarded and undisputed classic, an edgy, elegant examination of the habits and history of a reclusive gamebird, the Woodcock, native to Europe and North America, a bird that’s been hunted and celebrated since Roman times. Valdene writes exuberantly of the bird, the hunt, and the feast, gracefully balancing the obsessions of a naturalist, sportsman, and gourmand.