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| The River Why, Twentieth-Anniversary Edition | 
| Author: David James Duncan
Publisher: Sierra Club Books
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $4.98
You Save: $9.97 (67%)
New (35) Collectible (5) from $8.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  92 reviews
Sales Rank: 16227
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 1578050847
UPC: 710306050844
EAN: 9781578050840
ASIN: 1578050847
Publication Date: August 5, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Good reading copy. May include highlighting/writing, some completed exercises, missing dust cover, crease, and/or overall wear. Ships within 2 business days. 100% Customer satisfaction guaranteed.
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| Customer Reviews:
Wise Like A Fish August 14, 2008
Lovers of fishing, or Oregon, or life, or the search for life's meaning should love this book. So should readers interested in thoughtful, creative and honest writing; or of clever, insightful and profound character development. Gus Orviston is an enduring main character, and his discovery of his brother, Bill Bob's, unique and beautiful self, by itself, makes the book worth reading. With a comfortable, unique, often zany style, author David James Duncan has created an unexpected, very joyful book. The ending falls a bit short of the earlier 99%, but that's just quibbling.
A Great Read July 4, 2008
So, I purchased this book and didn't really expect to enjoy it. I loved The Brother's K, but I thought that maybe I was biased towards the book because I'm such a big baseball fan. I have no interest in fishing.
The River Why is not about fishing. It's an exceptionally insightful look at life. Our idols, our loves, everything. I was so impressed by this book and especially by the writing of David James Duncan.
This is some story! June 3, 2008
I think one wouldn't pick up this book casually. There'll never be a lot of hype about it and it takes about 100 pages to hook one. And then: oh, it is a good story. Reading a few chapters a time at night before I went to sleep, I was conscious how I came tired to this book as to bed, and left it with new energy - courage? Laughter? A sense of well-being.
What did I learn from this book? On page 227 in the paperback edition, there's the story of Nick which seems to me the book in miniature. A certain quiet is needed to tell a story which depends on the listener. Setting and introduction are essential (that's why the main story takes 100 pages to get going.) We cannot be in a hurry for the story of our lives. It's worth the read.
Brilliant November 12, 2007
The best book I have read in years. I would recommend this book to anyone that has a hard time believing in the traditional answers to the questions of life. Great!
 After the first few chapters, throw it away... June 20, 2007
6 out of 23 found this review helpful
Even though I hate fishing and have maybe done it once, the first few chapters of this book are humorous and interesting, in particular Bill Bob, Gus' younger brother. Unfortunately, Bill Bob's role is small to almost nonexistent as the book goes on and the author makes him say some pretty idiotic pseudo-philosophical/religious ramblings, such as a long discussion with Gus about how shadows are our guardians.
The book is largely predictable from the beginning until the end and it's almost like a bunch of authors get together to provide the same theme. The overall structure of the book is Gus starts to question life, including death, ultimate meaning, his meaning, and other philosophy 101 questions. And, of course, Gus ends up finding his meaning in the eyes of some backwoods hippie chick and has a religious experience (if you can call it that) while walking home from a long, incredibly drawn out trip down a river following a fish in his line.
I'm sure many people will see this book as being "deep" or "an interesting discussion of blah blah blah", but if you've even remotely dipped your foot in philosophy this book is hardly enlightening. I pushed through the book simply because I got past the half way point, then promptly threw it in the trash when I was done.
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