June 27, 2022
Nature writer Dombrowski (Body of Water) evokes both wilderness splendor and the hardscrabble effort of living paycheck to paycheck in this exquisite work. In lyrical language replete with vivid imagery, Dombrowski reflects on his 25 years as a fly-fishing guide, his uncertainty over writing and poetry, his impending fatherhood and “fear of ushering children into a periled world,” and his precarious role as the breadwinner of his family. Dombrowski’s narrative is enlivened by a cast of friends who offer him and his wife, Mary, a sense of community in Missoula: there’s Phil, a physician who trades doctoring for fishing trips; neighbors such as conservationist Laurie, a wild-game advocate; and Laurie’s partner, Spurgeon, an elite mountain athlete. When their family grows to three children, Dombrowski and Mary’s financial woes increase, prompting a move to Dombrowski’s native Michigan for a job teaching poetry at a prestigious boarding school. Pulled between his occupational responsibilities and devotion to Big Sky country, he renders his love of the natural world in incandescent prose: “the land itself... a blessing, yes, but also kind of passage, a shaft of fall light shone down on a trace path that leads out of a previously impenetrable wood.” Punctuated by the frank candor of a writer weighing sacrifice and art, this introspective memoir will hook fans of A River Runs Through It.
August 1, 2022
This memoir by poet, teacher, and fly-fishing guide Dombrowski (Body of Water) is a love letter to his adopted rural Montana home. His essays range from anecdotes from his fly fishing trips to his musings on becoming a father and raising children with a sense of wonder, while living lightly on the land. Challenges include raising a family with meager financial resources earned from his writing, river guiding trips, and low wage work. However, his coveted job at a school in Michigan, while giving him job security, can't make up for his homesickness for Montana, so he leaves it to return to the life he loves. His memoir is deeply descriptive of both the Montana landscape and the rivers he fishes. Tales of boating, fishing, hunting, and hiking draw the reader in as he weaves in stories from his childhood, teaching experiences, and time spent with family, friends, and mentors. VERDICT A lyrical exploration of a beloved place and lifestyle steeped in the natural world, by a writer for whom quality of life supersedes the need for financial security. Will appeal to readers who relish memoirs that skillfully intertwine nature, the American West, and fishing.--Sue O'Brien
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 15, 2022
Poet and fly fishing guide Dombrowski received accolades from no less than Jim Harrison and David James Duncan for Body of Water (2016), his earlier book on fishing in the Caribbean. He returns to a nautical theme with this follow-up memoir providing an intimate collection of related vignettes that ruminate on an outdoor life along Montana's stunning rivers and his challenging interior struggle over providing a dependable living for his growing family. Drawn to the dedicated nuance of crafting poetry and dazzled by the wild region he has long called home, Dombrowski recounts the constant battle to maintain a way of living that allows for both as everything becomes ever more complicated as he strives to include his wife and three children. Populated by a panoply of gorgeous images--"I was nineteen--the Yellowstone flowing around my hips swept quicksilver-streaked beneath the vast moonlit snowfields of the Crazy Mountains"--this is a complex, candid meditation on parenting, fishing, writing, and living in a manner that will stir the blood and fire the intellect.
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Starred review from September 1, 2022
A heartfelt memoir of life and fatherhood in Big Sky country. Born in Lansing, Michigan, Dombrowski, author of the acclaimed Body of Water, was "pointed the way west" when a teacher suggested he read A River Runs Through It. Seeking "the promise of a life less bound by convention, less dictated by status quo and occupational demands than by one's passions," he and his would-be wife, Mary, moved to Missoula, Montana. Dombrowski found work as a writer and fly-fishing guide, and Mary became a kindergarten teacher. Over time, they amassed a group of like-minded friends who shared their respect for the abundant flora and fauna in Montana. Through a collection of vignettes, the author shares his concerns for the environment, the effects of the appropriation of land from Native inhabitants, and the emotions the landscape stirs in him. "The angler standing in the river is not so much absolved of time as disburdened of it, able to shirk its weight--for some moments anyway--before with a dull thud a trout strikes his swinging fly, and he returns to pretending that he set himself in this cliff-shadowed stretch in search of a fish." With the arrival of their first child, Dombrowski was determined to pass on his passion for the land, but his thoughts soon turned to his family's financial situation. Adding to his concerns was the "inevitable environmental impact our growing family is likely to have on our planet." After the arrival of his third child, the author accepted a teaching position at a boarding school in order to provide his family more financial stability. However, the move took him and his family away from their beloved Montana. (They are now back, and the author teaches creative writing at the University of Montana.) Nature lovers will be captivated by Dombrowski's lyrical descriptions of the land and its wildlife, while parents are sure to relate to his familial challenges and sacrifices. A beautifully and poignantly written tribute to a beloved landscape and its spirit.
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