Vermont Books

This book is easy to read and has glorious photos of bygone county fairs. An excellent selection for those interested in the history and feeling of the old fairs.

Though these state fairs were slightly before my time, yet I found the book fascinating. Fish's photographs and prose are a joy. Highly recommended

These black and white photos, along with the recollections of the author, conjure up an intriguing look back at country fairs - something that goes well beyond the simple nostalgia that one might expect from such a collection. The photos are touching and powerful, and reveal elements of both the human and animal condition in regards to such fairs. Things like the burlesque shows may be a thing of the past, and these photos perhaps show why as Fish looks at both the girls on show and those who watched them with a detached and objective eye. A fine book altogether - especially for those interested in photo-realism or historical archives. The images speak on a number of levels...which is, in the end, the measure of a good photograph.

Once you start reading Charles Fish's Blue Ribbons and Burlesque (A Book of Country Fairs), it's hard to stop. The book starts with "Magic" and ends when "The Curtain Falls." In between we are introduced to "Animals: Power," their "Speed and Show," "Feats of Skill and Daring," "Freak Shows," and "Girlie Shows," to name a few of the chapters I found most entertaining.

On almost every page Fish blends into the text black and white pictures he took himself. Not only is Fish an accomplished wordsmith, he is also a talented photographer. He catches people and events at just the decisive moment when a story is most clearly and dramatically told. With each chapter I looked first at the pictures and then went back to read the entertaining story. It is hard for me to say which I enjoyed more, pictures or text, because Fish brought not only his wry observations to his writing, but also a genuine sense of humor revealed in many of the photos. A deep sense of humanity lives on every page of this book -- real people living their lives, some as performers, others as observers. With his camera in hand Fish watches them all, tells their story, and captures that brief period in Vermont history when a country fair brought a little "magic" into the lives of salt-of-the-earth New Englanders.

Blue Ribbons and Burlesque is more than a coffee table diversion, although this would be enough to justify its existence. Fish gives us a chance to reflect with him on what we have lost when country fairs with strange and unusual people, magnificent animals, games of chance, cotton candy, Ferris Wheels, bumper cars, and old fashioned merry-go-rounds took us out of the humdrum of daily life and brought the exotic to our back door, even if only for a week. Then, as Fish says, "Kitchens, tack rooms, and bedrooms sported new blue ribbons, and giant teddy bears had new homes. Thudding hooves and roaring engines still echoed, but faded as the weeks wore on."

Thanks to Charles Fish's remembrance and all those photographs he saved for many years, the blue ribbons and burlesque can be revived and relived, with pleasure and perhaps nostalgia for days gone by and a life that did not find its center in a television set. Highly recommended.

This lovely story tells about two children caught up in the infamous Lawrence, MA, mill strike of 1912. Rosa Serutti is caught between the anti-union pronouncements of her teacher and the harsh reality of tenement life for her immigrant family. Jake Beale runs from his alcoholic father and finds friends among the Italian mill-workers. As the story progresses, Rosa and Jake are taken in by Mr. and Mrs. Gerbati in Barre, Vermont. Here they receive clothing and food and love from Mrs. Gerbati, but both Jake and Mr. Gerbati are troubled by something from the past. Through the beauty of roses blooming from granite, Jake finds a new life and Mr. Gerbati breaks out of his shell. The strike ends and Rosa returns to her Italian mamma, the woman who deserved not only bread for her family, but roses too.

This is historical fiction of the highest calibre, with authentic details, well-developed characters, and a touching ending. It is a story of substance and beauty, too.

Doggone it, Katherine Paterson, stop making me cry! Under normal circumstances the number of books that make me tear up is a slim number that could be counted on one hand. And most of those books, if I was going to be honest with you, were probably written by Katherine Paterson. Ms. Paterson is a bit of a wonder. Year after year, decade after decade, she churns out consistently well-written meaningful pieces of children's fiction. The last book of Ms. Paterson's that I read was her rather remarkable, "The Same Stuff As Stars". Now, however, she's decided to traipse back into the world of historical fiction, alongside all the other authors this year, and produce a bit of fascinating history that can show a situation clear distinctions between good and bad, and yet leave enough room for people with nebulous motives. If complex narratives is the name of the game, consider Paterson a player.

On the one hand there's Jake. On the other hand there's Rosa. Both children live in Lawrence, Massachusetts in less than stellar conditions. For Jake, life is especially rough. His father's a drunkard who steals his son's money all the time and beats him senseless. And though Jake can usually make a little money in the local mills, it's rarely enough to keep him fed and warm. Rosa, in contrast, is relatively lucky. She lives with her mama, elder sister, and little baby brother in one of the city's many tenements. But life at the mill has been getting worse and worse and when it looks as if the mill owners are going to cut the workers' pay yet again, that's the straw that breaks the camel's back. Now Rosa's mother is joining in with the 1912 strike alongside workers from a variety of different backgrounds. And that might not be so bad except that Rosa is firmly convinced that her mama is putting their entire way of life in jeopardy. Her worst fears are confirmed too when her mother puts her on a train to Barre, Vermont to wait out the strike with a kind family there. On the train Jake meets up with Rosa and though they are only barely acquainted, he convinces her to say that he's her brother so that he can get out of town fast. As it happens, Jake has a secret he's trying to escape while Rosa has a life she's trying to remember.

Though it's clear from the get go that the mill owners are bad and the mill workers are good, Paterson works tirelessly to muddle the issue through Rosa's eyes. As far the girl is concerned, joining in the strike is dangerous and common. And Jake's no better a person with his constant schemes on how to get ahead and lie his way out of most situations. When he finds himself with the striking workers the book reads that, "This was the excitement of being a thief in the middle of hundreds of thieves, all set to steal away the world of Billy Wood", who is the mill's owner. In fact, you could probably say that there are few main characters out there half as self-centered as Rosa and Jake. For a long time all they think about is themselves. It takes a long time for them to get on that train headed for Vermont (150 pages or so), though once they do they're taken far enough away from what they're used to to think about something other than me me me. Rosa's schoolteacher Miss Finch is another complicated character. Unlike the mill schoolteacher in "Counting On Grace", Miss Finch is completely on the side of the owners. She doesn't want Rosa to be taken out of school, but she also encourages the children vehemently to keep their parents from striking. Rosa is, of course, completely on her teacher's side, and it's interesting to watch as Paterson pulls the child reader's strings back and forth and back again. She never tells her audience what to think and she doesn't have to. This book is an excellent example of "show, don't tell".

For those amongst us who don't know their American history as they should, I think I might not be the only one who thought that the title, "Bread and Roses, Too", meant that this story was a sequel. I know, I know. I'm a Neanderthal. I accept that. Really, it wasn't until the story showed how Rosa participated in naming the Bread and Roses Strike personally that I knew where the title even came from. Ms. Paterson, who is always good with clarification, mentions in the book's Historical Note at the end that no one really knows who came up with that phrase. She just took the liberty of assigning the job to Rosa, and it works like a dream.

Part of the privilege that comes with being a writer is that if you would like to set a book partly in your own hometown, you have that right. Ms. Paterson sets part of this book in Barre, Vermont where she herself lives. The people of Barre have long been known for the role they played in hosting the children of the Lawrence strikers. Ms. Paterson used all kinds of Barre historians to aid her in the writing of this book, and the result is a story that certainly gives the city its due. The writing for its own part is, of course, pitch perfect at all times. And while the book's first sentence is nothing to crow about, its last one is amazing. You won't understand much of what it means without having read the book, but I'll write it here just so you can get a taste of what Paterson's about. "How strange, how wonderful it semed to be running, not away from petty crime or deadly fear, but toward a new life where bread was never wanting and roses grew in stone."

It's interesting to note that Paterson doesn't go into the details of what working in a mill would entail in this book. We see the result of horrid working conditions rather than the cause. Technically she already showed the cause in her book "Lyddie". And if you happen to be desperate to read about what it was like for mill children, definitely seek out Elizabeth Winthrop's remarkable, "Counting On Grace". If children reading this book can get past Rosa's self-centeredness (she doesn't ever seem to get behind the strike until it seems as if she's named it herself) and they don't get bogged down in the story's first half, they'll be rewarded with a remarkable addition to the Paterson oeuvre. Reading "Bread and Roses, Too", makes you feel, when you are done, as if you've become a better person for the reading. A lovely little novel.

Rosa's mother seems happy again after recording from the mining death of Rosa's father - but she's out in the streets singing union songs, and Rosa's frightened of the corrupt mill owners. When she's sent away to live with strangers in Vermont until the strike is over, she worries she'll never see her family again. Her adoption of a younger boy will help protect them both in this moving story of a mine strike's politics and dangers.

Bread and Roses, Too is told from the alternating perspectives of two very different children. Jake Beale has faked his papers to work at the local mill, is largely illiterate, and spends most of his time running away from his abusive, drunken father. He respects no one, and sleeps literally in garbage heaps. Rosa Serutti is the daughter of Italian immigrants, and attends school, though her mother and older sister work in the mills. She's studious, prissy, and quiet, and worries a lot.

Though they have different backgrounds and experiences, both children find their lives turned upside down when the Lawrence mill-workers go on strike. To tell the truth, neither reacts well. Jake steals, lies, and fails to appreciate people's kindness to him. Rosa lectures her mother about the perils of striking, and slinks along on the fringes of the marches and demonstrations that arise, even as she is sometimes inspired by them. I didn't much like either child, early in the story. But things do get better. Eventually, Jake and Rosa's lives intertwine. Rosa is sent away to live in safety with a family in Vermont, and Jake escapes along with her, towing a dark secret.

All of the major events in the book are based on meticulously researched historical events (as detailed in a historical note at the end of the book). The Lawrence strikes are depicted as they happened, in terms of local and state responses, the presence of union organizers, and the humanitarian "vacations" provided for many of the mill-workers children. Barre, Vermont really did host several children from Lawrence during the strikes. A photo of the children inspired the author to look further into the story.

The historical detail does slow the book down a bit, especially in the early part, when Jake and Rosa are still in Lawrence. Because of this, I had a bit of trouble getting into this book. However, it won me over by the end, and had me in tears (in a good way). The two strongest aspects of the book, I think, are the depth of the immersion into the world of the immigrant mill-workers, and the complexity of the characterization.

Regarding the immersion, this is a book that will make readers feel lucky to have food, and warmth, and clean water, and not to have to worry about basic survival. Here's an example, when one of the Italian strikers buys lunch for Jake, giving him a platter of spaghetti:

"It was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. The tomato sauce even sported a few bits of greasy sausage. Jake forgot the crowd around him, forgot the strike, forgot the menace that waited for him in the shack, and fell to, his nose almost in the steaming plate. He hadn't had a full platter of food to himself in his entire thirteen years of life."

None of the characters in this book are one-dimensional, with the exception of Jake's dad, who is largely off-screen. Rosa's teacher is not very nice to the children in her class, and she tries to coerce them to convince their parents not to strike. And yet... she travels though the violence-prone streets to ask why Rosa isn't coming to school anymore, and she ends up providing lunch every day for the kids who remain in her class. The man in Barre that Rosa and Jake are sent to stay with, Mr. Gerbati, starts out silent and grouchy, and especially resentful of Jake. But when Jake actually gives him reason to be disapproving, Mr. Gerbati displays unexpected kindness "like his flowers blooming from the cold gray granite." Rosa's mamma is uncouth and uneducated, and somewhat careless of her children, but she has a voice like an angel, and she wants better for her Rosa than she ever had. Isn't that the immigrant dream?

I think that the book is accurate in capturing Rosa's struggles as the "smart one" in an immigrant family. She wants to fit in with her family, but even though she's still a child, her education is taking her beyond them. She's the only one who reads and writes fluently in English. At one point she thinks:

"She would be an American, an educated, civilized, respected American, not a despised child of an immigrant race. When she grew up she'd change her name and marry a real American and have real American children. She wouldn't go out to work in a mill and leave them in the care of someone's old granny who couldn't even speak English. She'd stay home and cook American food and read them American books and ... But even as she thought these determined thoughts, somewhere in the back of her mind she could smell rigatoni smothered in tomato sauce with bits of sausage in it and could hear her mamma's beautiful voice singing Un Bel Di."

I think that there are plenty of immigrant kids today facing the same sort of conflict between the promise of being American and the pull of their own culture.

This is a book that I'll remember for a long time. There is so much unflinching detail: Jake sleeping in the garbage; the welts on Jake's back; the wide-eyed awe of the children when they visit the Gerbati's house for the first time; and the feeling that Rosa has of being part of something larger than herself, during the demonstrations. I think this is one of those books that gets better in your memory, the longer it stays with you. I hope that kids will be able to get past the "good for you" feeling of the early historical parts, because the story has a lot to offer.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on February 8, 2007.

This book helped me because it broke down and discussed attitudes and fears I wasn't always aware of, that get in the way of learning. Using many general stories and specific examples relevant to skiing, McCluggage explains things that hinder learning and improvement. This is not a book that tells you exactly where to put your right hand as you conquer the hill, but rather it helps you center, relax, and visualize a smooth ride as you go with the mountain. Various chapters titles: The Energy in Fear, Working with Images, Breathing. It sounds esoteric but it is actually very simple and straightforward to understand.

great book makes sense and can be applied to many different sports including tennis and horsebackriding

Denise McLuggage is a genius. She was 20 years ahead of everybody when she wrote this book. There was no such thing as shaped skis back then. Yet, she knew the art and the science of skiing exactly, independently of the equipment one uses.

I have read that book again and again. I never get tired of it.

This book is one of the great works on skiing. It opens your mind to the possibilities of the sport and can be used to help with any sport you participate in. Easy to read and right to the point. This book is a classic among classic sport pyscology books. A must read for anyone looking for the Zen path in sports.

Found the book very helpful in finding covered bridges in vermont. Included exact directions to and history about each bridge and was organized according to region. A great guide for any covered bridge enthusiast!

This book was very informative on covered bridges in Vermont. Design descriptions of the various types of bridges are quite illuminating. The 215-page book is thoughtfully organized, broken down to reflect 13 distinct geographic areas in which the bridges are clustered so that the reader can effectively plan covered bridge tours. Black and white photographs and maps are provided to aid the reader in easily locating these bridges. I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in covered bridges!

Covered Bridges of Vermont was a delight to read. Have visited 103 of the ones he writes about, and the directions to them are very good, historical background accurate, and pictures are also very good. He gives tips for the best time of day to take photographs, taking into consideration the location of each bridge. No covered bridge enthuiast should be without a copy! He lists other places of interest as well. Now will have to find the ones we missed on our trips! Would have paid twice the price, and well worth it.

This is an excellent book for covered bridge finding. The directions are perfect to the tenth of a mile, roads are well defined as to location from the nearest town. Photo tips are very helpful. Plus, you get a short history about the bridge and the maker. I recently used this book to find several bridges in Vermont and was very happy that the information here is so pricise

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I must admit I let myself take about 6 months to read it, only because I was enjoying it so much. It offers a rare glimpse into what some people have gone through emotionally. The author is a wonderful writer, with a love of nature.

Hill's understanding of and compassion for her clients touched me deeply. Her entries reminded me of Rachel Naomi Remen's My Grandfather's Blessings in that each entry stands alone as a single pearl of wisdom but the whole is a beautiful strand of intimate knowing. I felt bereft when I finished; I wanted to continue in the company of this wise and powerful woman.

Reading this book was a moving experience for me as a therapist. I found Marcia Hill's observations to range from mildly amusing to profoundly wise. She modeled the kind of vulnerability within a framework of integrity which no doubt makes her a very special clinician. She has the ability to laugh at herself and the profession while it is obvious she is deeply committed to her clients and her vocation. I would recommend this book to anyone who wonders about what makes good therapy.

In graceful prose Marcia Hill opens her heart about the job she loves--being a psychotherapist. As the seasons of her Vermont year turn, tiny details of the changes nature makes in the woods and sky reflect and enhance the human stories she tells. To open the heart of another, one must endure the heartbreak and revel in the joy of each moment, but above all, one must listen. From violent to nearly mute, the voices of Marcia's clients speak to her soul, transforming therapist and patients alike.
To relish this book, one needs no formal training in psychology, although therapists will appreciate the companionship of a walk with Marcia Hill. However, anyone who has worked with people and watched them grow, anyone who has ever paid attention to her own cycles of loss and fruition, and anyone who enjoys sensitive, authentic writing will delight in this book.

Dishing Up Vermont: 145 Authentic Recipes from the Green Mountain State is a compilation that unquestionably lives up to its title. Food writer and Tracey Medeiros, whose recipes have formerly appeared in "Bon Appetit", "Cooking Light", "Eating Well", and "Hampton Roads", offers easy-to-follow instructions for preparing tasty delights such as "Vermont-Style Hush Puppies", "Grilled Marinated Venison Loin", "Grilled Maple-marinated Portobello Mushrooms", "Butternut Squash Ravioli with Apples and Pears", and much more. Full-color photography and an assortment of Vermont food and eatery anecdotes round out this wonderful culinary tour de force.

You don't have to live in Vermont to love this cookbook. We live in Pennsylvania, and can get many of the same ingredients from our local farmer's market. This cookbook is for anyone who enjoys good food and knows the value of sustainable farming. Knowing the importance of buying locally produced foods, I found this cookbook to be a practical addition to my pantry. The recipes are easy to follow, yet taste like they were prepared by a gourmet chef. I particularly enjoyed the recipes for Blueberry Stuffed French Toast and Apple Covered Cheesecake. If you've ever been to Vermont, reading this will make you want to go back. The author does a wonderful job highlighting many of the Inns and Farms that make Vermont unique.

Dishing Up Vermont is a wonderful new cookbook that combines the best recipes and ingredients from the Green Mountain State. It introduces the reader to a wealth of ingredients and products that give the cook an insider's view of Vermont's best. This cookbook demonstrates the important bond between farmers, chefs and consumers, while stressing the importance of the sustainable farming movement as well as buying local. The book contains beautiful photographs of Vermont and its products which add an extra touch to this delightful collection of recipes. This is a must have cookbook for anyone's library, whether you be a Vermonter, or a visitor to the state. Hats off to the author for giving us a cookbook which we will have in our library for many years to come.

"Dishing Up Vermont" is a welcome addition to anyone's kitchen and cookbook library. For the master chef, novice, and everyone in between who may be interested in great whole food recipes prepared and flavored with organic ingredients, "Dishing Up Vermont" is a long awaited culinary dream. The wide selection of products used in these recipes not only include natural, healthy, and heart smart ingredients and preparation methods, but also emphasize sustainable farming practices, conservation, and fair trade markets which strengthen communities and the health of the overall land and environment. "Dishing Up Vermont" takes the reader through an exciting and delicious journey through the state of Vermont to eat at some of the finest restaurants, inns, and lodges while meeting some of the most exceptional chefs in the world...all in the comfort of your own kitchen. "Dishing Up Vermont" is an excellent cookbook that is unique in its mission and one that my family and friends will enjoy and recommend to others for many years to come. Kudos to its author!

The story of a man who was a deacon and priest almost without knowing it, and how he ultimately came to be ordained to serve a rural town and church as their priest. Moving and poignant for persons called to serve as deacon or priest who have already been ministers.

Garrett Keizer's story will settle even the most adventurous spirit from searching to enfolding an inner Spirit much more gratifying.

Garret Keizer's book, A Dresser of Sycamore trees is a thoughtful and carefully written book which describes the "everyday" work of the Holy Spirit in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Keizer's descriptions of his friends and neighbors in this small town are tremendous. He does an amazing job seeing God's presence in his everyday work and ministry as a vicar of a small church and a high school English teacher. He reminds me of what St. Francis is quoted to have said, "Preach the gospel. If necessary, speak." Garret Keizer preaches with his actions and through his descriptions of the lives of "ordinary" people. This is a must - read.

I am shocked that the publisher would describe this book as "a surprise critical sensation." It's prose alerts us to one Christian's view of the invisible Christ, manifest in people, things, and incidences. It is excellently, thought provokingly written. I cannot with my own words evoke the message of this book, so I will defer to the author, in a quote from his work. . . ."It is about mysticism and orthodoxy, ordinariness and sanctity, unity and diversity and about the intersection of all these things in a design that looks to me like a cross." -pg. 150 Read this book because it is about a common man doing the uncommon and thereby transforming his world, our world, into a place "set apart" for divine possiblities.

Walter N. Webb's investigation into this forty year old Lake Champlain UFO abduction account deserves to be ranked amongst the literature's top ten. Superbly comprehensive and thorough and clearly written, this account contains a wealth of detail that intrigues, mystifies...

And corresponds with so many similar accounts and on such a minute level - for example, the Alagash abductee's experience within the beam of light - that the truly objective skeptic (the truest definition of that term) simply must concede the tantalizing yet frightening possibility that much of this is simply true.

Webb's book deserves to be reprinted and more widely read. I wish he wrote more, or, at the very least, supplied a prefatory update on the lives of these two abductees. It would be interesting to know how they have coped with their memories, or if other such experiences have followed them into their adulthood.

In any event, this is one of the very few books that anyone truly interested in the subject absolutely must read. Scientific methodology meets journalistic integrity. Not for those sensation-seekers hungry for the easy answers and all the New Age-ish speculations.

The best treatment of UFO evidence I've read. Completely objective. Takes pains throughout and again at the end to point out both the strengths and weaknesses of the case under investigation. Although he clearly believes in the reality of the event reported by the alleged abductees--as do I, after reading the book--he concedes that some of what they report could be embellished, or due to memory contamination as part of the hypnosis process. In the final analysis, he invites the reader to draw his own conclusions.

None of what I've written above should "spoil" this book for the reader. The book wouldn't have been written if the final conclusion was hoax, fraud, or hallucination. The value and beauty of the book and of the investigation it recounts are in the details of the investigative methodology and the reasoning applied to the case.

Webb has done the field a great service and produced an important work.

The researcher should be commended!!

Webb is a professional astronomer who has been a UFO investigator for 42 years. He has brought the full weight of his experience to bear on this productive case. Though the experience itself is not as rich in detail as those reported these days, its special benefit is that the two people involved are not related and knew each other only briefly for a few days at a camp where the abduction happened. Such events are rarely reported and have exceptional value as evidence as do the more recent Australian multiple abduction cases. There were confirming witnesses in this case and the investigator has little doubt in his own mind these two people did indeed share some sort of intense UFO experience. The report can be considered a model for other investigators in its thorough and systematice approach.

Incredibily important book on natural medicine that has been practiced in Vermont for some hundreds of years. Definitely a scientific basis as presented by the country doctor that practiced among the Vermonters. He did very convincing studies proving most of the tenets of this system. It has to do with humans and animals.

My mother was cured of arthritis from drinking Dr. Jarvis' solution of apple cider vinegar water. He also recommends many other old-fashioned cures. Among them--castor oil. My 13-year-old son had athlete's foot and applied caster oil to it and it was gone in two days. This was after using lots of drug store remedies. This is a book to keep in your medicine cabinet!

Certainly brings to light alot of thought on the old adage * an apple a day* !!

I used Dr. Jarvis honey & vinegar for arthritis in l974. Then my finger joints were constantly sore. I've had no problem since. It also took care of constant indigestion problem. He says by adding this acid(vinegar) keeps our body slightly acid prevents many illnesses ie colds etc. I believe it. Indigestion is caused by the stomach not being acid enough. Only when it is acid enough will the empty valve open to empty the stomach.

I have more recently gotten a lot of benefit from

using kelp from his recommendation. Open heart surgery a year ago left me energy-less. Four weeks of kelp was like going around the corner. The shortage of iodine seems to be the key. e-mail texasjackreed@Bluebonnet.net

No home movies, no photo albums, no old songs warm myheart more than traveling through New England to some of the very places described in this book. That's where my memories lie. That's where my father took me, and his father before that.

And while I have moved away, there are two great reminders of a childhood that I can only describe as ecstatic. A picture on my wall of E.B. White. And Hickoff & Plumley's book about the best places to fish. Some I've been to. Some I was taken to by these authors.

For those of you who are not as nostaglic and wistful about New England, let me with all honesty say that this book will serve as a superb and practical guidebook. And for those who have a little something more connected to the region, this book is a blueprint for irreplacable memories.

And damned good fishing spots and tips.

I had the pleasure of attending a seminar by Steve Hickoff last winter. I bought this book from him at the seminar, and have used it a lot more than I ever thought I would. My family and I were on vacation at Sebago Lake in Maine recently, and the information in the book on Sebago Lake, the Crooked River, and the Presumpscott River was invaluable. The maps of the Crooked and Presumpscott rivers especially allowed me to get up early, get to a good fishing spot, and even catch a couple of fish (all before the rest of the family even knew I had gone fishing). I really like the Crooked River, it has become one of my favorites. As an earlier reviewer stated, this book gives you the information to get to the good spots, without wasting a lot of time driving around. The book also provided information on what sections of the rivers were fly fishing only, and the local regulations for taking trout and salmon. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who plans on doing any fly fishing in Maine, NH, and Vermont.

FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF VERMONT TO THE ALLAGASH IN MAINE TO SEACOAST OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. HICKOFF AND PLUMNEY KNOW WERE IT'S AT. FROM THEORY TO FLIES TO PRACTICAL INFO. THEY NOT ONLY TALK THE TALK, THEY WALK THE WALK. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANY FLY FISHERMAN RATHER A BEGINNER OR A EXPERT. TIGHT LINES, STEVE, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

I travel around New England regularly and usually have a fly rod in my car. It is always frustrating when I have a couple of hours of free time and I spend it trying to figure out where to fish instead of spending it fishing. This book has all you need to know to find a spot and catch (and hopefully release) some fish. Unlike some books the authors don't limit themselves to only one kind of fish or claim that every spot they talk about is going to rival the best place you've ever fished. Highly recommended for anyone who gets the privilege of fishing in New England!