A New Kind of Fishing Book: “Pulp Fly”

There are a number of good fly fishing books scheduled for release this spring, but my favorite of the bunch really isn’t a book at all. Well, at least not in the printed, traditional sense.

“Pulp Fly” is an e-book featuring stories from a collection of bloggers. The title plays off the “pulp fiction” publishing revolution of the early 20th Century, where cheap printing materials opened mass market opportunities, and boosted the careers of writers now considered literary greats, like Jack London and Zane Grey.

I was honored to write the foreword for Pulp Fly, because I think the stories are gritty, honest, and interesting. You probably know many of the contributors, like Bob White, who is known as one of the best fly fishing artists today (www.bobwhitestudio.com); White produced the cover art for this book and also contributed a wonderful essay. Bruce Smithhammer of busterwantstofish.com and The Drake fame offers a really solid piece that connects hunting with fishing.

Pete McDonald, author of “The Blitz: Fly Fishing the Atlantic Migration” and the brain behind fishingjones.com, serves up what I think is one of the finest essays on fly fishing I’ve ever read (and certainly the first to connect Jai-Alai with fly fishing). Matt Dunn of fishbeer.com leads it all off with a powerful piece called “Frank’s Inevitable Michigan.”

What makes this book special is that all the contributors are good writers who have contributed to “mainstream” publications, but the blog format and this e-book allows them to dabble in the realm of “tell us what you really think.” And I think delving into the “people aspect” of fly fishing (a place where some traditional print publishers are less able and willing to go these days) is liberating, not only for the writer, but also for the reader.

It’s worth checking out for $5 at Amazon.com.