Nature Book Reader June 2020 - Flipbook - Page 48
A Nature Book Reader
TOM FORT
Mediocre fisherman, ageing cricketer, ham-fisted apprentice pianist
The Fisherman’s
Bedside Book by BB
No fishing anthology has
ever approached BB’s
masterpiece. Its glory was
to bring together the best of
‘classical’ writing – Negley
Farson, H.T.Sheringham,
J.W. Hills, Arthur Ransome
etc – with the testimony of
humbler members of the
brotherhood. J.L. “Wormy”
Webb’s account of his 12
pound barbel from “a spot
opposite the third meadow
below the French Horn
Hotel at Sonning”
is immortal; Albert
Buckley’s record carp
from Mapperley not far
behind. If my house caught
fire I would rescue my
cricket bat, my Fisherman’s
Bedside Book and
– naturally – my wife
and children before
anything else.
48
Of my other choices,
Luard’s little book is a
masterpiece of modesty and
self-deprecating humour.
McGuane’s is the best
fishing memoir of the last
ten years.
Further Reading
Fishing Fortunes and
Misfortunes by G.D. Luard
The Longest Silence
by Thomas McGuane.
