cover image Inquisitive Angler

Inquisitive Angler

Ed Migdalski, Edward C. Migdalski. Lyons Press, $27.95 (234pp) ISBN 978-1-55821-132-2

In The Compleat Angler Izaak Walton observes, ``Angling is somewhat like poetry, men are to be born so.'' Migdalski was born so, and then added some 30 years in Yale University's ichthyology department collecting and studying exotic species around the world. A by-product of his career, this book of informed fishing passions is an authoritative lexicon that will delight the angler's senses. Exercising restraint in the glossary format, Migdalski ( Fresh and Salt Fishes of the World ), who like all fishermen knows more than he says, includes practical information on, for example, fresh and saltwater angling techniques, taxidermy, taxonomy and various records. A litmus test for younger readers who wonder if they might be ``born so'' and armchair pleasure for the seasoned angler, this volume is as much a treasure as would be a book of butterfly collecting by Nabokov. (Dec.)