Jessica Maxwell

Jessica Maxwell takes on fly fishing. I Don't Know Why I Swallowed the Fly is an account of her very first year learning the sport. As with any hunting sport Jessica needed to learn how to think like her prey. She needed to teach her body, muscle, bones and nerve, to perform the movements necessary for a perfect, flowing cast. As psychological as the game of golf, Jessica found herself untangling the intricacies of throwing out the flawless line. Rod and reel in perfect harmony with human show more dynamics. Aside from Jessica's expanse of humor throughout I Don't Know Why.. I was drawn to the vibrant imagery of the landscapes around her. I adored the way she described, nature - especially when it came to light. Sunlight, especially. Her words had a way of dancing like rays on water, sparkling and bright.
But I Don't Know Why... isn't just about one woman's fly fishing adventure. Jessica subtly deals with the loss of her father with poignant memories and in the end, revelations about the man who shaped her future with a simple love for nature and of course, fishing. show less

some of these essays are significantly better (or worse) than others. overall not bad, but not great, either.

certainly it rekindled (as if i needed the help) the desire to get out there and see things, to camp, to hike, to experience the world. (although never ever to be the outdoorsy kind of person who hunts and fishes like many of the people in this book.)

This is one i picked up at the library either for free or for 10 cents. I didn't end up liking it very much. A couple of the chapters were relatively interesting, but almost half of it was about fishing, which bores me. I didn't like her writing either. I think she tries too hard with her comparisons and at times they didn't make sense to me. I think she tried too hard to be funny as well. There are some really bad puns in this book.

Also, the title itself annoys me because it's show more "Frenglish".

*Review written on November 2, 2014.* show less