Backcast: Fatherhood, Fly-fishing, and a River Journey Through the Heart of AlaskaWhile father and son fishing trips can be the stuff of American legend, they can also turn out to be the stuff of anger, love and self-discovery. In his memoir of a fishing trip through the Alaskan wilderness, Lou Ureneck brings to life the struggle to reclaim the trust of his teenage son, Adam, following his divorce. Told against the backdrop of the Alaskan wilds, Backcast is the remembrance of a fishing trip that carried a father and son from the mountains of Alaska to the Bering Sea. Along the way, nature transforms from friend into foe, and their struggles are played out against the poignant emotional battle raging between the two as they descend the river headed toward confrontation. On their journey, the two encounter nature's dangers -- bears, violent river currents and ruthless, punishing weather -- as well as the hurts that exist between them, the reasons for divorce, the absence of a father and the withheld love of a son. Dipping his hand into the river of his own life, Ureneck recounts his own fatherless childhood, the influence of his mother's boyfriend who helped him learn to fish, and the realization that he himself had done the one thing he always promised himself he would not do: He ended his marriage in divorce. Part adventure story, part reconciliation with life's unexpected turns, and part commentary on the healing power of nature, "Backcast" explores the world of a man confronted by the hard choices divorce can bring to create a moving meditation on fatherhood. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 24
Page 11
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 16
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 26
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 28
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 29
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Contents
On the River | 1 |
Growing Up as a Fisherman | 82 |
Back on the River in the Rain | 161 |
Marriage and Divorce | 174 |
Middle River | 206 |
Back in Philadelphia | 223 |
On the River in the Braids | 255 |
Epilogue | 283 |
Other editions - View all
Backcast: Fatherhood, Fly-fishing, and a River Journey Through the Heart of ... Lou Ureneck No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
Adam Alaska apartment asked BACKCAST bank bear beauty beauty shop bedroom Bering Sea Braids brother brought brown bear called catch catfish caught chest coffee dinner divorce door downstream eyes father feel feet felt fish fisherman fishing rod fly fisherman front gave going hair head heart Helmetta hook inside Jeff White Johnny Johnny's Kanektok Kanektok River knew lake living looked Maine marriage morning mother moving never night oars okay Oscarville Patti Paul Philadelphia Philadelphia Inquirer picked post-and-beam pulled pushed Quinhagak raft rain river rocks salmon seemed sleep smell Spotswood stay stood stopped story stream street summer sure talk tell tent things thought told took trees trip trout truck turned uncon Ureneck waders walked wanted watched woods Yupik