Body of Water

Born in Michigan, Chris Dombrowski earned his MFA from the University of Montana. His publications include two collections of poems, most recently Earth Again. His poetry and nonfiction have been widely published in leading journals and magazines. Also a fly-fishing guide, Dombrowski lives in Missoula, Montana.

Praise for Body of Water"A brilliant book. Destined to be a classic."-Jim Harrison"Dombrowski's writing exhibits a poetic sense of economy. There's a tremendous amount of information here on the geological, botanical, biological and human history of the region, but the author uses only what's necessary to the story and relates it in evocative, concise language that reminded me of Gary Snyder one minute and John McPhee the next. . . . Dombrowski's exacting descriptions of the sport make me long to try it again-and to wish that more fishing books were written by poets."-Wall Street Journal"Dombrowski elevates the fly-fishing-as-meditation narrative by the sheer fact that he's so damn good at writing about it. There's prose and practicality in equal parts, so the allure of the sport comes through."-Outside"Body of Water is about bonefishing, but it is also about ecosystem exploitation, class conflict, wealth inequity, race relations, Bahamian history, mentor-mentee relationships, nature as the catalyst for self-awareness, and more. . . . The lyrical narrative strikes a delicate balance between reflective memoir and reportage."-Minneapolis Star Tribune "If truth is a tailing bonefish, then Chris Dombrowski has taken full measure of the truth. With Body of Water, the author gives us a superbly cast work of nonfiction that deserves a wide readership. . . Entwined with mesmerizing angling scenes are the author's carefully-wrought ruminations on the deep, tectonic forces of nature and the treacherous history of colonialism-all in prose honed sharp as the edge of a knife, quick-witted, unpretentious but deeply reflective. . . He brings precision and originality to his sparkling depiction of flats fishing in sentences that would make Tom McGuane lean back in the batter's box."-Gray's Sporting Journal"A lyrical, genre-defying tribute. Drawing on Caribbean history and the evolution of fly-fishing, Dombrowski's foray into nonfiction proves thematically complex, finely wrought, and profoundly life-affirming."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)"This gorgeous work wastes not a word on fly-fishing basics. It dives Moby-Dick deep into a famed sport and livelihood's very essence, and never leaves. In the hands of veteran trout guide and poet Dombrowski, the `Abraham' of Caribbean guides, David Pinder Sr., becomes the perfect embodiment of the near mystery religion that is saltwater-flats fishing. Via the hearts of two men utterly in love with the wounded world in which their calling takes place, Body of Water then pours forth beauties, subtleties, dark history, and insight with an unforced lyrical power I associate with no lesser word than `masterpiece.' Dombrowski's Michigan-to-Montana trajectory updates Jim Harrison, his comedic fishing scenes bear comparison to Thomas McGuane, and his powers of ebullient reflection bring to mind Mary Oliver-yet I've read no book anything like Body of Water, and enjoyed no book in memory more."-David James Duncan, author of The River Why"This is some of the best writing that you'll ever read about fishing. But Body of Water achieves even more-it's a passionate, luminous, completely delightful book."-Ian Frazier, author of Travels in Siberia"A metaphor-laced meditation on the art and practice of fly-fishing, the social and economic history of the Bahamas, the evolution of archipelago geology and the chronicle of Dombrowski's personal struggle to juggle his fishing and poetry obsessions against the financial needs of his own family . . . Fly-fishing mysticism at its best."-Shelf Awareness"Rarely do cautionary tales dazzle like this. It's a credit to Dombrowski's prose, which torques and twists and glistens into view much like the bonefish itself. . . . This is a book about seeking that which we cannot see, of understanding a place and its people not nearly as foreign as we might imagine. It's a book about what connects us, and a book about disconnection, too. Though most importantly, it's a meditation, not only on the ebb and flow of our lives, but on the lives with which we share this planet. By book's end, Dombrowksi leaves readers with many lessons, though this one most of all: whether on a skiff or in a book, the guide matters. And Dombrowski's the one you want."-Los Angeles Review"Dombrowski makes the East End of Grand Bahama Island rise right up out of green water and live on the printed page. But his lasting achievement is in giving an old forgotten man of the sea named David Pinder his beautiful bonefishing due."-Paul Hendrickson, author of Hemingway's Boat"Dombrowski has fetched up a marvel. So very much is in it-geology, biology, fishing lore; conservation and natural history and personal quest-all seen by a wondrously limber mind traversing space and time. I don't fish but this scarcely matters-Body of Water is about being alive. An abundant and reverential feast of a book."-Noy Holland, author of Bird"Body of Water hits you in two ways. The first is obvious-this is a book about fish and fishing from a writer who's put in the time to know what he's talking about. But the second takes you by surprise: at its core, Body of Water is about our increasingly tenuous connection to nature, from a poet who understands the source of that strange and melancholic joy that we are blessed with only when we stand in wild places."-Steven Rinella, author of Meat Eater"Uncanny and moving. This book will not only make you change your vacation plans, it might make you change your life. A reverent, almost holy book, of angling lore."-Debra Magpie Earling, author of Perma Red