Critics have hailed James R. Babb as one of the best nature writers in print, and in Fly Fishin' Fool, the third and arguably best of his highly successful books about his adventures and misadventures, fly fishing is yet again a subject for his hilarious musings, and also a departure. To better skewer the objects of his well deserved scorn, Babb has donned the fool’s cap “to acquire the freedom enjoyed by fools and jesters in medieval times, snickering behind a mask of assumed innocence so that he can speak his mind on matters of import unfettered by the social graces.”

In “All in the Family” he considers the ultimate low-rent method of angling for eels, and the only thing in angling history his family name has ever managed to adhere to, despite his best efforts. In “Sailfishing with Señor Ed,” Costa Rican sailfish meets madman machoism, as told by a trout fisherman who’d rather be home. Babb fishes a small creek in a Montana grizzly bear sanctuary with a couple of old East Tennessee high school buddies and nothing but the protection of a collection of old Southern hymns in “The Wings of a Dove.” And in “Crusher
Hole,” he examines a tough trout pool in the Smoky Mountains, where a fool and his dignity are soon parted.

Part Samuel Clemens, part Ambrose Bierce, part Norman Maclean, Jim Babb’s piquant observations about the human condition, adroit similes, and consummate wordplay come together in the unique mastery of language and storytelling that avid Jim Babb readers have come to savor. Fly Fishin' Fool will surely be savored by lovers of fine nature writing and students of American letters.