Home Waters

NOW IN PAPERBACK!

In the spirit of his father's beloved classic A River Runs Through It comes a gorgeous chronicle of a family and the land they call home: Home Waters is John N. Maclean’s meditation on fly fishing and life along Montana's Blackfoot River, where four generations of Macleans have fished, bonded, and drawn timeless lessons from its storied waters.

“The trout completed its curve in an undulating, revelatory sequence. A greenish speckled back and a flash of scarlet on silver along its side marked it as a rainbow. One slow beat, set the hook … in those first seconds I felt a connection to a fish of great size and power."

So begins John N. Maclean's remarkable memoir of his family's century-long love affair with Montana's majestic Blackfoot River, which his father, Norman Maclean, made legendary. Now himself past the age that his father published his bestselling novella, Maclean returns annually to the simple family cabin that his grandfather built by hand, still in search of the fish of a lifetime. When he hooks it at last, decades of longing promise to be fulfilled, inspiring John, reporter and author, to finally write the story he was born to tell.

A book that will resonate with everyone who feels deeply rooted to a place, Home Waters is chronicle of a family who claimed a river, from one generation to the next, of how this family came of age in the 20th century and later as they scattered across the country, faced tragedy and success, yet were always drawn back to the waters that bound them together. Here are the true stories behind the beloved characters fictionalized in A River Runs Through It, including the Reverend Maclean, the patriarch who introduced the family to fishing; Norman, who balanced a life divided between literature and the tug of the rugged West; and tragic yet luminous Paul (played by Brad Pitt in Robert Redford’s film adaptation), whose mysterious death has haunted the family and led John to investigate his uncle’s murder and reveal new details in these pages.

A universal story about the power of place to shape families, and a celebration of the art of fishing, Maclean’s memoir beautifully portrays the inextricable ways our personal histories are linked to the places we come from—our home waters.

PRAISE FOR HOME WATERS

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“You do not have to be a devout angler or have previously read A River Runs Through It to enjoy Home Waters. The book is a testament to the power of place and the love that binds us, throughout the generations. Home Waters is a keeper.”

—FLATHEAD BEACON

“marvelous… graceful and compelling… this is a great book.”

—CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Throughout ‘Home Waters,’ Maclean shows that he’s a real writer. But he’s also a real reporter with a long career for the Chicago Tribune.”

—CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

“Maclean’s writing is often intimate. Family lore, told and retold, can be a fuzzy thing, but some memories about his father, like their first time fishing together, remained spectacularly vivid and personal.”

—THE WASHINGTON POST

“The prose in Home Waters, which is often transporting, flows with a shadow-cast grace. What’s more, John Maclean generously welcomes the reader into his family… The best word I can think of to describe Home Waters also happens to be the Maclean’s family word: beautiful.”

—FIELD & STREAM

“Home Waters is wherever we, as anglers, outdoorsmen and women, came to love and learn about place, play, and the people we call family or close friends. In this view, John Maclean's Home Waters is a wonderful reflection on how a sense of place and shared activity, especially sport, defines our lives, our families, and the meaning we find in them.”

—DAVID BROOKS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MONTANA TROUT UNLIMITED

“‘Home Waters’ details the history of the family, the area’s geology, the ancient trail through the Blackfoot Valley that the Indians followed to hunt the buffalo in the plains. There is a host of characters who vibrate to a different frequency than most of us.”

—THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“This memoir is an ode to its inspirations.”

—THE NEW YORK TIMES

“[Maclean’s] Hemingway-esque prose is as clear as a mountain stream, flowing with a poetic cadence and lyrically describing the many splendid natural treasures to be found under the Big Sky. A sure bet for readers who enjoy American and natural history and a must-read for fishing enthusiasts.”

—BOOKLIST

“Maclean offers a lyrical love letter to Montana’s Blackfoot River, fishing, and his storied family in this captivating memoir… Fans of his father’s novella will relish the details that served as its inspiration and are here rendered in Maclean’s sharp yet poetic prose… This richly observed narrative is sure to reel readers in.”

—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“In addition to patient nature writing and an introspective approach to the literary inspiration he has received from the land, Maclean discusses the genesis of Norman’s famous book and mystery surrounding the death of one of the characters. Lovers of literature and nature will be captivated by this heartfelt tribute to place and family.”

—KIRKUS REVIEWS (STARRED REVIEW)