The River Why

By: David James Duncan

Narrated by: Dick Hill

The classic novel of fly fishing and spirituality republished with a new Afterword by the author.

Since its publication in 1983, The River Why has become a classic. David James Duncan's sweeping novel is a coming-of-age comedy about love, nature, and the quest for self-discovery, written in a voice as distinct and powerful as any in American letters.

Gus Orviston is a young fly fisherman who leaves behind his comically schizoid family to find his own path. Taking refuge in a remote cabin, he sets out in pursuit of the Pacific Northwest's elusive steelhead. But what begins as a physical quarry becomes a spiritual one as his quest for self-knowledge batters him with unforeseeable experiences.

Profoundly reflective about our connection to nature and to one another, The River Why is also a comedic rollercoaster. Like Gus, the reader emerges utterly changed, stripped bare by the journey Duncan so expertly navigates.

Critic reviews

Praise for The River Why:

"A whirlwind, madcap, humorous and sensitive novel"—New York Times

"A hymn to the waters of the earth and the wholeness of life. It is also funny."—Miami Herald

"A veritable epic of flyfishing... done in a high-velocity, exuberant style, sprawling in scale, heedless of form... The feeling for and evocation of the imperiled natural world is rhapsodic in its intensity; the writing energetic, literary in a distinctly American way... So amiable is the prevailing tone that the flowing narrative is able to absorb Koranic and Eastern mysticisms, Tao, Sufism, Zen-the religions of oneness and gospel of love-without turning into the kind of maudlin choral chanting that so often disfigures treatments of fusion of self and the world."—Publishers Weekly

This is a modern-repeat, modern -tale of maturity and redemption.—Christian Science Monitor

Funny, relatable and touching.

It’s fun to follow the details of the main characters, trailing thoughts. I think the narrator did an amazing job with the characters, and added to the humor of the writing.

This book is very fine!

Duncan, belongs in the pantheon with Maclean and McGuane, because in places his prose is every bit as ethereal and transcendent. His own fisherman meditations meander uniquely through a perineal spirituality, which is an interesting and fitting braid to this narrative, and that lure that I found most worth following. He is clearly a writer who seeks the source waters, of world, of self, of why, thus his ethos springs from his powers of observation and contemplation. Years ago, I had seen the film adaptation, and thought erroneously I had a grasp on Duncan’s content, but this made me foolishly put off this special read for too long. I’ll be ordering a hard copy now too, so I can sit with his deeper currents again and again. The narrator is quite capable and has a sense for the writer’s complexities.

Distracting narrator but terrific story

Like many other reviewers I really disliked the style of narration by this narrator. Lots of odd stops, overly dramatic and weird emphasis on certain words. Felt like a bad actor was trying to impress someone with a dramatic reading. But the story was good enough that I survived the poor reading of it and found I could still enjoy the book in the end. I guess you get used to the weird narration after a while.

One of the best books of all time

It takes a minute to get absorbed into this book, but then the story overtakes you, and it is profound, and funny, and beautiful, and it spits you out the other side wide-awake, and in love with the world, and everything in it. Can you say any higher praise for a book?

Great fishing and oddball couple book.

Great story about fishing family and life. Thank you Neil Peart for putting it in Bubbaso book club.list