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The Alaska Chronicles: An Unwashed View of Life, Work, and Fly Fishing |  | Author: Miles Nolte
Publisher: Departure Publishing LLC
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $16.89
as of 9/6/2010 21:11 CDT details
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Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 545977
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First
Pages: 216
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0615276326
Dewey Decimal Number: 799.12409798
EAN: 9780615276328
ASIN: 0615276326
Publication Date: April 1, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
On September 20, 2007, Miles Nolte posted the final installment of his summer job memoir on The Drake magazine's Internet message board. For seventeen weeks, Nolte had used his laptop and a satellite Internet connection to transmit his semi-daily account of what it's really like to be a fly fishing guide on a remote Alaskan river. Sitting in his tent above a river packed with migrating salmon and gluttonous trout, he wrote about anglers that he enjoyed guiding and others that he couldn't wait to get rid of. He described epic fishing days and days of bitter disappointment. He typed about wolves and eagles and beavers and bears. Lots of bears. There were periods of sunny weather and dry flies, followed by stretches of relentless rain, wind, and cold. And beyond the trials that nature doled out, Miles also described how overworked outboards don't always start, tents sometimes catch fire, and dysfunction often runs rampant among divergent guide and client personalities that are thrust together in a desolate and trying environment. By the time Miles returned from Alaska, his online musings had attracted a loyal and vicarious following of anglers and guides from around the world. They praised him for his articulate candor, and they thanked him profusely for transporting them with each new post to a place they may have otherwise never reached. Departure Publishing is proud to present The Alaska Chronicles, a fishing guide's memoir that originated and evolved in a most unusual manner. If you've ever fished Alaska, or if you hope to someday, this book will leave you with an insightful view of the outfitting business and a newfound appreciation for North America's most pristine and prolific coldwater fishery.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
Fantastic - Even if you have NO Interest in Fishing August 11, 2009
Sally Vanderbink (Los Angeles, California)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Miles Nolte has an uncanny ability to make characters come alive and thus captivate you as the audience. Every single person you encounter in the Alaska Chronicles somehow makes you think of someone you have met or known before, even if you wish you hadn't. I found myself unable to put the book down. And this is despite the fact that I have literally fished maybe 10 times in my entire life. And when I say fished, I actually mean holding a snoopy fishing pole with a worm on the end that was literally dropped into the water rather than cast in any recognizable sense of the word. You don't need to know a thing about fishing to enjoy this story. On the other hand, if you do know anything about guiding, fishing, or Alaska, my guess is that Mr. Nolte's descriptions and characterizations will ring true with you and it will cause you to appreciate these stories all the more. More than anything else though, the book is full of wit and charm. The book is laugh out loud funny at times and you wonder how someone can get himself into these precarious situations. You might almost question them but there is a genuine honesty about the writing, so that you don't. Mr. Nolte's voice is clear and I felt myself wishing the book were not done when it was. I anxiously look forward to his next literary endeavor on whatever subject it may be about.
Drinking Beer at "Tent Temp" September 23, 2009
richie the pelican (atx)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
OK, so after all the banter back and forth in the fly fishing community, I finally got my copy of Alaska Chronicles.
Good News - It is absolutely fantastic. True grit narrative of being a guide in AK. Miles Nolte does an awesome job of taking you there (even if you've never been). Funny, painful and genuine.
Bad News - I stayed up too late reading it and am now exhausted. There are not (yet) any other Miles books for me to pick up once I finish this. I am now twitching like a crackhead to get on the water.
Of course I knew going into it that would at least really like this book because of the subject matter and adventure of the entire thing.
What is so freakin' great about this book is that it is so real, so funny and so very human. While it is completely entrenched in the blood, sweat, tears (and other bodily fluids that will remain unnamed here) of the fishing guide life, it also completely transcends to anyone who has to deal with clients. The chapter on the "Pinner" was especially poignant. But, the best surprise has been the first-time author's genuine writing talent. Not only does he paint a very realistic picture, but it is also strewn with the thoughts, emotions, ups and downs that we all go through. That is what makes this such a killer read... even for those of you out there that don't even fish.
My wife is officially sick of me keeping the bedside lamp on til the wee hours. She is glad Mr. Nolte doesn't yet have other books. I, however, am not.
I might just start drinking my canned beer at "tent temp", too.
Couldn 't put it down. January 5, 2010
Keith Kolischak (Winston-Salem, NC)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I've been fly fishing for 17 years now and have read a lot of fly fishing books. This one is unique, I followed it on the [...] board but having a bound copy is much better. I've been to Alaska on a DIY trip and know others who have been summer guides in Alaska. He makes his experiences come alive and I couldn't put it down, I kept saying "one more chapter", but always wanted to fine out what was going to happen next. First rate!
Is this the new voice in fly fishing? August 9, 2009
Dan T. (Denver USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a great read and a nice diversion from the stodgy and stoic realm of traditional fly fishing literature. Miles Nolte is an accomplished storyteller with a unique ability to describe time and place without superfluous prose. One of the best books I've read in years. BUY IT!
The Inside Scoop on Alaska Fishing Guides April 4, 2010
Michael B. Crutcher (Louisville, KY USA)
The Alaska Chronicles is a refreshing change from the typical book about fly-fishing trips. In the first place, it's written by a guide, but not just any guide. Miles Nolte is perceptive, honest and self-aware. His prose sparkles with wit but never departs from realism, the reality of being an Alaska fishing guide in a remote location with "sports" of various levels of ability and equipment with a propensity to break down.
Secondly, too often books by fishing guides are written under the guise of the wise, old sage, imparting wisdom to the rest of us. Nolte tells it like it is, or at least, how he sees it. He's impatient, frankly critical of his fishing camp's management and downright disparaging about some, or at least one, of his fellow guides. He sees his paying anglers as ordinary people, full of expectations, only some of which can be realized. Fishing is not always easy and not always good. He's generous with his help to those anglers who are trying hard to do what's needed, and contemptuous of the lazy and those unwilling to learn.
I'm headed to an Alaska fishing lodge this fall. Nolte's book will be very helpful in making my expectations more realistic. And it will certainly encourage me to be as nice as possible to my fishing guide. The Alaska Chronicles is highly recommended, especially for fishermen, even more for fly-fishermen, and most of all to fly-fisherman headed to our 49th state on a fly-fishing expedition.
Mr. Nolte, you owe us another book, quick!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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