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The Optimist
- A Case for the Fly Fishing Life
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill, David Coggins - afterword
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
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The Optimist
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Publisher's summary
An “excellent” (The New York Times) modern tribute to an ageless pastime, and a practical guide to the art, philosophy, and rituals of fly fishing, by an expert, lifelong angler.
In The Optimist, David Coggins makes a case for the skills and sensibility of an enduring sport and shares the secrets, frustrations, and triumphs of the great tradition of fly fishing, which has captivated anglers worldwide.
Written in wry, wise, and keenly observed prose, each chapter focuses on a specific place, fish, and skill. Few individuals, for example, have the visual acuity required to catch the nearly invisible bonefish of the Bahamas flats. Or the patience to land the elusive Atlantic salmon, “the fish of a thousand casts,” in eastern Canada. Pursuing these challenges, Coggins, “a confirmed obsessive,” travels to one fishing paradise after another, including the great rivers of Patagonia, private chalk streams in England, remote ponds in Maine, and New York City’s Jamaica Bay. In each setting, he chronicles his fortunes and misfortunes with honesty and humor while meditating on how fishing teaches focus, inner stillness, and a connection to the natural world.
Perfect for the novice, the enthusiastic amateur, and the devoted angler alike, The Optimist offers a practical path to enlightenment while providing “a rueful, thoughtful, and very funny examination of an elegant obsession” (Jay McInerney).
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Jim Harrison, Pam Houston, Ted Leeson, Nick Lyons, Thomas McGuane, and more, share stories of fly fishing and life on the river. This marvelous collection features stories from some of America’s finest and most respected writers about one of the world’s most solitary and satisfying sports: fly fishing. For the first time, the stories of thirty-one acclaimed writers including Kim Barnes, Walter Bennett, Russell Chatham, Guy de la Valdne, Robert DeMott, Chris Dombrowski, Ron Ellis, Jim Fergus, Kate Fox, Charles Gaines, Bruce Guernsey, Jim Harrison, Pam Houston, Michael Keaton, Greg Keeler, Sydney Lea, Ted Leeson, Nick Lyons, Craig Mathews, Thomas McGuane, Joseph Monninger, Howard Frank Mosher, Jake Mosher, Craig Nova, Margot Page, Datus Proper, Le Anne Schreiber, Paul Schullery, W. D. Wetherell, and Robert Wrigley come together in one collection. Fly fishers and non-fly fishers alike will recognize in these poignant tales the universal aspects of the appreciation of nature, the necessity of conservation, and the joy and knowledge that come from time spent on fresh and salt water. This is a delightful, handsome volume that captures the allure and spirit of fly fishing and those that love it.
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1 out of 5 stars
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5 out of 5 stars
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I fish, but rarely fly fish.. love Gierach’s work
- By BearheartRaven on 04-24-20
By: John Gierach
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Astream
- American Writers on Fly Fishing
- By: Robert DeMott - editor
- Narrated by: Brian Morris
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
Jim Harrison, Pam Houston, Ted Leeson, Nick Lyons, Thomas McGuane, and more, share stories of fly fishing and life on the river. This marvelous collection features stories from some of America’s finest and most respected writers about one of the world’s most solitary and satisfying sports: fly fishing. For the first time, the stories of thirty-one acclaimed writers including Kim Barnes, Walter Bennett, Russell Chatham, Guy de la Valdne, Robert DeMott, Chris Dombrowski, Ron Ellis, Jim Fergus, Kate Fox, Charles Gaines, Bruce Guernsey, Jim Harrison, Pam Houston, Michael Keaton, Greg Keeler, Sydney Lea, Ted Leeson, Nick Lyons, Craig Mathews, Thomas McGuane, Joseph Monninger, Howard Frank Mosher, Jake Mosher, Craig Nova, Margot Page, Datus Proper, Le Anne Schreiber, Paul Schullery, W. D. Wetherell, and Robert Wrigley come together in one collection. Fly fishers and non-fly fishers alike will recognize in these poignant tales the universal aspects of the appreciation of nature, the necessity of conservation, and the joy and knowledge that come from time spent on fresh and salt water. This is a delightful, handsome volume that captures the allure and spirit of fly fishing and those that love it.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Flowery nonsense
- By 964a5 on 05-10-13
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Bright Rivers
- Celebrations of Rivers and Fly-fishing
- By: Nick Lyons
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
Bright Rivers chronicles the angling passions and frustrations of one of fly-fishing's greatest men of letters. A city dweller trapped in the complexities of modern life, Nick Lyons has always found solace in his pilgrimages to great rivers. It is there that he fishes for trout, and in Bright Rivers, Lyons recounts the sometimes moving, sometimes hilarious experiences of his expeditions to the Delaware, Beaverkill, Madison, Big Hole, and Yellowstone rivers, sharing reminiscences of trout taken, released, and sometimes lost.
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5 out of 5 stars
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First Nick Lyons Book and Quite Satisfied
- By Brian Kurtz on 04-21-22
By: Nick Lyons
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Trout Eyes
- True Tales of Adventure, Travel, and Fly Fishing
- By: William G. Tapply
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 158
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 140
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Story5 out of 5 stars 140
Fly fishermen everywhere will enjoy these varied, witty, and engaging adventures by one of America’s finest outdoor writers. There is a long section on trout fishing called "Brookies, Browns, and Bows", and another on the challenges and excitement of saltwater fly fishing, and an exciting group of memoirs about fishing near home and in far-flung and often exotic places - like the Minipi, Bighorn, and Norfolk rivers, where the trout can beggar the imagination, and where frustration can be the occupational hazard.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Hidden Gems of Fishing
- By C. Smith on 10-28-15
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Lost Among the Birds
- Accidentally Finding Myself in One Very Big Year
- By: Neil Hayward
- Narrated by: Sam Devereaux
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 276
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 245
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 243
Early in 2013 Neil Hayward was at a crossroads. He didn't want to open a bakery or whatever else executives do when they quit a lucrative but unfulfilling job. He didn't want to think about his failed relationship with 'the one' or his potential for ruining a new relationship with 'the next one'. And he almost certainly didn't want to think about turning 40. And so instead he went birding. Birding was a lifelong passion. It was only among the birds that Neil found a calm that had eluded him in the confusing world of humans.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Know a Birder? This will help you Understand.
- By Carole T. on 08-27-17
By: Neil Hayward
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The Habit of Rivers
- Reflections on Trout Streams and Fly Fishing
- By: Ted Leeson, John Gierach - foreword
- Narrated by: Allan Robertson
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 199
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 169
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
Originally published in 1994, this book was a fly-fishing phenomenon in the way Howell Raines' Fly Fishing Through the Mid-Life Crisis was. Taking his fishing hobby to near metaphysical levels, Ted Leeson tells about his passions: rivers, trout, and fly fishing. With wry humor and rare insight, he explores questions that engage most fishermen: What is it about rivers that draws us so irresistibly, and why does fly fishing seem such an aptly suited response?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Greatest Book I've Ever Listened To.
- By Travis on 03-17-18
By: Ted Leeson, and others
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Amazon Woman
- Facing Fears, Chasing Dreams, and My Quest to Kayak the Largest River from Source to Sea
- By: Darcy Gaechter
- Narrated by: Laura Jennings
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
This 148-day journey began on Darcy Gaechter’s 35th birthday. She sold her successful outdoor adventure business, upsetting her partner and boyfriend of 12 years and getting them both fired in the process. The emotional waters that would fester and erupt on the ensuing journey were often more challenging to navigate than the mighty river itself. With blistering lips and irradiated fingernails, Darcy would tackle raging Class Five whitewater for 25 days straight, barely surviving a dynamite-filled canyon being prepared for a new hydroelectric plant.
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5 out of 5 stars
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More than just an adventure book...
- By Scott Shepherd on 04-19-20
By: Darcy Gaechter
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Should the Tent Be Burning Like That?
- A Professional Amateur's Guide to the Outdoors
- By: Bill Heavey
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 355
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 301
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 300
For more than 20 years, Heavey has staked a claim as one of America's best sportsmen writers. In feature stories and his Field & Stream column A Sportsman's Life, he has taken audiences across the country and beyond to experience his triumphs and failures as a suburban dad who happens to love hunting and fishing. This new collection gathers together a wide range of his best work - tales that are odes to the notion that enthusiasm is more important than skill and testaments to the enduring power of the natural world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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one of the best storytellers of all time!
- By Adam on 12-16-17
By: Bill Heavey
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Far and Away
- A Prize Every Time
- By: Neil Peart
- Narrated by: Brian Sutherland
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 380
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 327
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 327
Following in the tradition of Ghost Rider and Traveling Music, Rush drummer Neil Peart relates nearly four years of band tours, road trips, and personal discoveries in this introspective travelogue. From the ups and downs of a professional artist to the birth of a child, this revealing narrative recounts 22 adventures from rock's foremost drummer, biker enthusiast, husband, and father.
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1 out of 5 stars
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What a disappointment!
- By Philip G. on 12-02-16
By: Neil Peart
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In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond
- In Search of the Sasquatch
- By: John Zada
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 105
On the central and north coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, containing more organic matter than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. The area plays host to a wide range of species, from thousand-year-old western cedars to humpback whales to iconic white Spirit bears. According to local residents, another giant is said to live in these woods.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not a relatable book
- By RJK on 07-14-19
By: John Zada
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Beyond the Mountain
- By: Steve House, Reinhold Messner - foreword
- Narrated by: Steve House
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 409
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 361
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 359
What does it take to be one of the world's best high-altitude mountain climbers? A lot of fundraising; traveling in some of the world's most dangerous countries; enduring cold bivouacs, searing lungs, and a cloudy mind when you can least afford one. It means learning the hard lessons the mountains teach. Steve House built his reputation on ascents throughout the Alps, Canada, Alaska, the Karakoram, and the Himalaya that have expanded possibilities of style, speed, and difficulty.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A life-changing book
- By barbudo on 05-02-18
By: Steve House, and others
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Kerplunk!
- Stories
- By: Patrick F. McManus
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 192
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 136
The stories in Kerplunk! travel the byways and highways of the Pacific Northwest, bringing to life offbeat, down-home characters who hope their grandchildren can pick the lock on the gun safe because they've forgotten the combination, who know exactly why it costs $500 to make a fly lure that retails for $2, and who aren't afraid to confront the problems of bird-dog flatulence.
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3 out of 5 stars
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narrator nightmare
- By David on 12-09-07
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Racing the Rain
- A Novel
- By: John L. Parker Jr.
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 590
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 536
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 535
Quenton Cassidy's first foot races are with nature itself: the summer storms that sweep through his subtropical neighborhood. Shirtless, barefoot, and brown as a berry, Cassidy is a skinny, mouthy kid with aspirations to be a great athlete. As he explores his primal surroundings along the Loxahatchee River and the nearby Atlantic Ocean, he is befriended by Trapper Nelson, "the Tarzan of the Loxahatchee", a well-known eccentric who lives off the land.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I just finished reading it again!
- By Jonathan on 01-11-16
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We Stood upon Stars
- Finding God in Lost Places
- By: Roger W. Thompson
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
You are made for freedom and adventure, friendship and romance. Yet too much of your life is spent unfulfilled at work, restless at home, and bored at church. All the while, you know there is something more. You'll find some of life's best moments waiting for you over a campfire, on a river - even in that coffee shop or brewery you didn't know you'd discover along the way. It's time to begin the search.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Such a good book
- By The Great Bambino on 06-16-21
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Stop Drifting, Start Rowing
- One Woman's Search for Happiness and Meaning Alone on the Pacific
- By: Roz Savage
- Narrated by: Roz Savage
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 193
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 177
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Story4 out of 5 stars 172
In 2007, Roz Savage set out to row 8,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean—alone. Despite having successfully rowed across the Atlantic the previous year, the Pacific presented the former office worker with unprecedented challenges and overpowering currents—both in the water and within herself. Crossing Earth’s largest ocean alone might seem a long way removed from everyday life, yet the lessons Roz learned about the inner journey, the ocean, and the world are relevant to all of us.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I only listened to 1/3, so maybe it gets better?
- By Brandin on 05-14-14
By: Roz Savage
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Dreaming of Jupiter
- By: Ted Simon
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 130
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 115
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 112
When Ted Simon rode 64,000 miles round the world on his 500c Triumph Tiger, he inspired thousands of motorcyclists to begin their own adventures, including Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, who chronicled their travels in Long Way Round. Nearly 30 years later, Ted Simon took to the road again to retrace the epic journey he made in his 40s. He meets up with old friends and acquaintances, revisits old landmarks and locations, and rediscovers himself, as well as the world, along the way.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing book, Amazing Man
- By Roxanna on 08-16-18
By: Ted Simon
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Zen and Now
- On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
- By: Mark Richardson
- Narrated by: Buck Schirner
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 107
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story4 out of 5 stars 83
In 1968, Robert Pirsig and his son, Chris, made the cross-country motorcycle trip that was the basis for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a book that has inspired generations with its searching personal and philosophical narrative. After rereading the book at the onset of middle age, reporter Mark Richardson tuned up his old Suzuki dirt bike and became a "Pirsig Pilgrim".
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful
- By James on 04-17-09
By: Mark Richardson
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- By: David Coggins
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- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story5 out of 5 stars 18
In The Optimist, David Coggins tackled the techniques of fly-fishing and meditated on its virtues, recounting his triumphs and failures. Now, in The Believer, he deftly mixes travel, local cultures, further fishing challenges (some knee-buckling in their disappointment), and details his own experience as life and love crowd his time to fish.
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5 out of 5 stars
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