The Longest Silence
| Author | Thomas McGuane |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Essays on fly fishing |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Publication date | November 12, 1999 |
| Publication place | New York |
| Pages | 280 |
| ISBN | 978-0-679-45485-4 |
| OCLC | 754953961 |
| Dewey Decimal | 799.12 |
The Longest Silence is a 1999 collection of fly fishing essays by American author Thomas McGuane.[1]
Consisting of 33 essays, it has received critical praise both for its depictions of fishing as well as the quality of McGuane's prose.[2]
Reception
The collection was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the five best fly fishing books of all time. Fly fishing author John Gierach called The Longest Silence "the best fly fishing book ever written" while Jim Harrison said that McGuane "writes about fishing better than anyone else in the history of mankind."[3][4][5]
Skip Clement, editor of Fly Life Magazine, said: "In anything fishing, fly fishing, McGuane speaks the language of anglers through his characters." Writing in The Spectator magazine, David Profumo commented: "McGuane shows how a novelist can bring to the pages of sport those qualities of tension, nuance and dark humour that make his own fiction glimmer - this collection of 33 essays is a model of its type, the anatomy of an obsession." In the New York Times Mary Grace Butler provided a positive review: "His observations on the mechanics of fishing are entertaining as well as technical, but it is the gentle, elegiac descriptions laced with crisp opinion that draw the reader in." [6][7][8]
Translation
The book has been translated into Italian under the title of Il grande silenzio: una vita trascorsa pescando.[9]
As of 2025, McGuane is the only individual to be an inductee into the Fly Fishing Hall of Fame.[10]
References
- ↑ THE LONGEST SILENCE | Kirkus Reviews.
- ↑ Goodwin, Stephen (August 10, 2015). "Thomas McGuane's The Longest Silence". The American Scholar. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ The Orvis Company (June 26, 2020). Orvis - Tom Rosenbauer Interviews Fly-Fishing Author John Gierach. Retrieved May 14, 2026 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "The 5 Best Fly Fishing Books Every Angler Should Read". Fishing On SI. February 5, 2025. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ "The Longest Silence by Thomas McGuane: 9780525565307 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ Clement, Skip (November 2, 2017). "Book Review: The Longest Silence". Fly Life Magazine. Fort Lauderdale. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ Profumo, David (September 23, 2000). "The anatomy of an obsession". The Spectator. London. pp. 55–56. Archived from the original on May 14, 2026. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ Butler, Mary Grace (September 10, 2000). "The Longest Silence by Thomas McGuane (review)". The New York Times Book Reviews. p. 27. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ McGuane, Thomas (2012). Il grande silenzio : una vita trascorsa pescando. Translated by Franconeri, F. Milan: Baldini Castoldi Dalai. ISBN 978-88-6073-769-4. OCLC 898565792.
- ↑ "A Conversation with Thomas McGuane". August 7, 2025. Retrieved May 14, 2026.