This is the revised second edition of Geoffrey Bucknall’s autobiography. The cover notes say this is not a conventional book, and it certainly is not. Geoffrey populates every page, but this is a bright, literate mind reflecting on his life, times and fishing.
I found this very readable and entertaining, most events and situations seem to be a opportunity for a wry comparison, a quirky literary reference, and ultimately a laugh. At times maybe a little over-written for my taste, but this moves along at a fair pace and the author kept me with him all the way.
Geoffrey has some decent material to work with, of course, his various careers as a laboratory technician, then a tackle manufacturer, then tackle retailer – author of a dozen books and hundreds of articles published in fishing magazines, both here and in France. (I first met Geoffrey in France at a tackle show, where his fluent French proved more than handy.)
Hard to categorise this as a ‘fishing book’ because this will not teach you how to tie a fly or read a stream. However, it delves into the fascination of fishing, how it becomes part of our lives, and in Geoffrey’s case an intrinsic and I hope deeply rewarding part. Well worth seeking out.