Product Description

Thirty-five million Americans–one in eight–like to go fishing. Fly fishers have always considered themselves the aristocracy of the sport, and a small number of those devotees, a few thousand at most, insist upon using one device in the pursuit of their obsession: a handcrafted split-bamboo fly rod. Meeting this demand for perfection are the inheritors of a splendid art, one that reveres tradition while flouting obvious economic sense and reaches back through time to touch the hands of such figures as Theodore Roosevelt and Henry David Thoreau.

In Casting a Spell, George Black introduces readers to rapt artisans and the ultimate talismans of their uncompromising fascination: handmade bamboo fly rods. But this narrative is more than a story of obscure objects of desire. It opens a new vista onto a century and a half of modern American cultural history. With bold strokes and deft touches, Black explains how the ingenuity of craftsmen created a singular implement of leisure–and how geopolitics, economics, technology, and outrageous twists of fortune have all come to focus on the exquisitely crafted bamboo rod. We discover that the pastime of fly-fishing intersects with a mind-boggling variety of cultural trends, including conspicuous consumption, environmentalism, industrialization, and even cold war diplomacy.

Black takes us around the world, from the hidden trout streams of western Maine to a remote valley in Guangdong Province, China, where grows the singular species of bamboo known as tea stick–the very stuff of a superior fly rod. He introduces us to the men who created the tools and techniques for crafting exceptional rods and those who continue to carry the torch in the pursuit of the sublime. Never far from the surface are such overarching themes as the tension between mass production and individual excellence, and the evolving ways American society has defined, experienced, and expressed its relationship to the land.

Fly-fishing may seem a rarefied pursuit, and making fly rods might be a quixotic occupation, but this rich, fascinating narrative exposes the soul of an authentic part of America, and the great significance of little things. George Black’s latest expedition into a hidden corner of our culture is an utterly enchanting, illuminating, and enlightening experience.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #286212 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-08
• Released on: 2006-08-08
• Format: Deckle Edge
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Roughcut
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In the rarified world of bamboo fly rod making, names like Ed Payne and Sam Carlson, and their progeny, acolytes and apprentices, stand like giants, casting long shadows that stretch from the dawn of modern American fly-fishing in the late 19th century to the present-day reality of multimillion dollar "cabins" along the Bitterroot River valley in Montana. In this beautifully crafted, utterly engaging work, Black wraps his own personal journey through the contemporary world of bamboo fly rod making in a sweeping, meticulous telling of the history of American fly-fishing. With admirable dexterity, he manages to make the story a metaphor for a great deal of how American social and commercial culture has evolved over the past 150 years. Black indelibly etches a story of peerless craftsmen laboring toward perfection, sparring all the while with corporate interest, fickle customers and the inevitable diminishing of their own inspiration. A must for any committed angler, this is a worthwhile read for those who have never rolled out of bed before dawn, pulled on a pair of rubber waders and ventured into the ice-cold waters of some trout stream in search of that perfect catch. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Black celebrates the bamboo fly rod, finding in this special piece of fishing tackle a metaphor for an offshoot of the American dream: what he calls the "pursuit of perfection" in craftsmanship. The text combines a history of bamboo rod development--from -nineteenth-century craftsmen through such recent rod makers as Hoagy Carmichael Jr. (son of the songwriter)--with a broader narrative in which bamboo craftsmanship becomes part of a larger story involving the cold war, the growth of outdoor retailing companies (Abercrombie and Fitch, Orvis, L. L. Bean), and the movement of the tackle-manufacturing industry from the U.S. to overseas (rod bamboo, it turns out, is only available in China). Some readers may be disappointed to find that there is relatively little actual fishing in these pages, but Black is after, well . . . bigger fish. In the manner of Mark Kurlansky writing about salt or cod, he finds in the simple bamboo fishing rod a means to express not only the essence of fly-fishing but also the unquenchable spirit of individual craftsmen. John Rowen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
George Black did not pick up a fly rod till after his fortieth birthday–and he has seldom willingly put one down since. He was born in the small Scottish mining town of Cowdenbeath and was educated at Oxford University. Black is the author of four other books, including The Trout Pool Paradox: The American Lives of Three Rivers. A journalist and editor for more than twenty-five years, he has written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The New Statesman, Mother Jones, The National Law Journal, Fly Fisherman, and many other publications. He lives in New York City with his wife, the author and playwright Anne Nelson, and their two children.

Customer Reviews

Casting a Spell
I myself am a maker of bamboo rods, so I may be somewhat prejudiced, but Casting a Spell cast a spell over me. Black has caught the spirit of our craft in his telling of the story of the development of the fine bamboo fly rod and the people involved in making them from the late 19th century until the present. He begins at the beginning-- that is, with H. L. Leonard and the group of marvelous rod makers who worked with him in the late 19th century. This core group of rod makers served as the wellspring of all bamboo rod making in the United States. Eustace Edwards, Fred Thomas, Edward Payne and the Hawes Brothers, and of course, Hiram Leonard himself.-- though each of them had distinct personalities, they all had one thing held in common; a drive for perfection.

It was not Black's intention to write a complete history of American bamboo fly rod making. Rather, it was his intention to trace the quest for perfection shown by lives and work of the original Leonard crew as they dispersed and established their own shops and their own versions of perfection in fly rod making. Black believes that Eustace Edwards, with his restless quest for the perfect fly rod, epitomizes all that is best in craftsmanship. Therefore, his book focuses primarily on Eustace and his offspring, their contributions to the art of rod making and the personal and professional interconnections among the great rod makers.

Black does not attempt to explain how the bamboo fly rod is made, but it is really unnecessary to know much about that to understand the book. There is really very little new in the book in terms of the history of the bamboo fly rod and its construction. What Black has accomplished here is to bring life to these remarkable men and put the history of bamboo fly rod making into the context of changes in the social and economic climate of the United States in the last century. Industrial mechanization changed the way in which many products are manufactured, marketed and consumed. Originally, bamboo fly rods were a luxury item, but mass production in the machine age, and the creation of the middle class changed all that. Then, almost anyone could afford a bamboo fly rod, but only the very rich could afford a rod hand-made by a fine craftsman driven toward perfection. And even then, a rod maker could only earn a pittance to keep the price of a rod competitive with the finest machine- made rods. These pressures relentlessly forced craftsmen to compromise their ideals to make a living. One can only describe this as agony and ecstasy. With these economic and social changes, the embargo on Chinese bamboo and the introduction of fiberglass and graphite, one would expect that the craft of fine bamboo rod making would be extinct -- not so. Black finishes his work with a whirlwind tour through rod shops of many of the modern makers who are carrying on the craft, portraying each as a distinct personality having a distinct approach to perfection in rod making.

For some bamboo rod history enthusiasts, there will be disappointment in that many of the large rod manufacturers -- Heddon, Granger, Chubb, Montague etc. -- are left out of the story. The book is an easy read, is well-written and the style is novelistic. Black's enthusiasm for the subject is obvious -- and quite contagious. However, the reader must have some appreciation for the useful beauty inherent in a fine bamboo fly rod in order to appreciate this book. The book should be all on the shelf of any bamboo fly rod enthusiast.

They aren't 'poles' anymore
Regardless of whether you don't know the difference between a fly rod and a cane pole, or whether you not only know the differences but you've made your spouse learn about them, there's a place on your book shelf for Casting A Spell. George Black's investigative trail took him all over the country on a merry chase after the fly fishing equivalent of the Holy Grail: the perfect bamboo fly rod. Is there a piscatorial equivalent to the Stradivarius? George is convinced the best were from the hands of Eustis William Edwards, and he goes on to show the reader that the excellence that began in the mid 1800's flourished under the stewardship of makers like Billy Edwards as the new century began. Fly fishing in America certainly didn't start with A River Runs Through It and today the bamboo fly rod is alive and well as the new generations of rod crafters strive to create the next Strad. There are good reasons why the bamboo rod has enjoyed a renaissance in recent decades and when you've finished this book you'll understand both the craftsmen and their customers a bit better. This is a good read from an investigative writer with a proven track record in this area.

Fun, informative book
This is a terrific book. It covers the history and personalities that shaped the evolution of the craft of bamboo fly rod making.

I bought this book thinking it would be informative, and it was. What was pleasantly surprising was how interesting and fun the book was to read. It gave me a real appreciation for the great bamboo rod makers and some insight into their lives. The author's careful research and enthusiasm for the subject matter is evident throughout. Highly recommended.