Batfishing in the Rainforest

Recounts the author's experiences during his career as a fishing guide

The '60s new journalism is now producing a second generation of "gonzo" travel writers, postmodern reporters and skewed naturalists: White is all three in this collection of 23 short pieces, some of which have appeared in Playboy , Southern Living et al. Reports of adventures in Central America, Asia and Floria are frothy with peculiar insights on politics, flora and fauna and local character. This travel writing freestyle event offers an antidote to prepackaged armchair adventures and New Age "sacred tours." Even in the company of the Navy SEALS or the Seward (Alaska) Polar Bear Jump crew, White's viewpoint oscillates between quirky subjectivity and transcendence. No tourist board should let him into its country, but fans of P. J. O'Rourke and David Quaamen will find a kindred spirit.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

White, a Florida fishing guide turned writer, takes us from Singapore to Alaska in 24 essays, some of which have appeared in Playboy , Outside Magazine , and Southern Living . Although a fishing pole is usually within reach, many of White's excursions could be more accurately described as those of a naturalist-observer. An adventurous and somewhat macho sort of a fellow who does not foreswear occasional crudity, White nonetheless has a nice comic sense when the spirit moves him. His book is better described as general outdoor literature than fishing literature, and is not indispensable to either area. However, White should find an audience in Florida libraries, since much of the U.S. action is set there.
- David Panciera, Westerly P.L., R.I.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.