"Guy de la Valdene’s sublime On the Water is the spiritual yin to The Old Man and the Sea’s yang. De la Valdene engages with water, its creatures, and the fishing of them as a profound expression of connection and even love, a way into the self and into the wider universe that illuminates the deep nature of both. On the Water is an instant classic of a memoir." —Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain“One doesn’t know whether to envy Guy de la Valdene more for the life he has had or the books he writes. This one, like Walden and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, pulls a catch of big, finely scrutinized and rendered observations on man and nature from small water—interspersing an acutely-studied account of the natural history and seasonal life of a 27-acre lake on Valdene’s property with exuberant fishing adventures from around the world. The resultant mixture of memory and desire, of wit and wisdom, is nothing less than a classic.” —Charles Gaines, author of the National Book Award finalist Stay Hungry
