Book is now out, got mine yesterday from amazon.
Overall I liked it... very enjoyable and fun to read.
If you have ever fished the derby, you will like it and will want to get this book.
Here is my take yours may be different.
The real good:
He got into it. The author really did his homework. He talked to everyone and fished with many. Did a lot of research, a lot more than most other outsiders would have done. He spoke with the unapproachable and got them to speak about sensitive issues. Through his research he dug out derby nuggets that were little known. I really enjoyed his conversations with fisherman while he was out there fishing on the beach and in boats. It was fun to read his outside perspective that he interjected at times. It made you feel like you were out there with him sitting on board, standing on the jetty or in the back seat of the buggy.
He actually fished it, the entire thing, almost every day, boat & shore. I liked his writing style and the way he presented material except for a few minor things. I felt in large part he captured the excitement of the event and the character of many derby regulars.
The minor drawbacks:
I felt it centered a little too much on one individual and dwelled on the derby controversies too much. I actually liked the fact the scandals were documented as they are are not talked about much but felt he should have kept it to one chapter instead of weaving them throughout the entire book. I know our society likes to read about "dirt" and negative events (just look at our newspapers, TV, etc)and this will sell books... but feel it could give the outsider the wrong impression about what the derby is really all about. I mean there were relatively few negative events over the 60 some-odd years and the amount of good things done and positive memories that this event has created dwarfs the negative issues. Others may feel differently.
Now I made it sound like I didn't like it when I really did. It was just those two things that I thought were over done somewhat. I can't blame him too much, the year he was here was a relatively controversial one..it was the year when a fish was weighed in with several lbs of yo-yo hardware in its gut and there were some adjustments in the rules on how to treat that. It was in the papers and there was a lot of island chatter about it.
I just ordered a few more copies for gifts for a few off island buddies I fish with. If you have ever fished it, you will really enjoy the book and probably will not even notice what I consider minor drawbacks.
Last edited by Mr. Sandman; 03-13-2009 at 09:35 AM..
|
Linear Mode
