Podcast #208: Trout Fishing, Boredom, and the Meaning of Life | The Art of Manliness

Fishing has been used in both film and literature as a backdrop for coming-of-age stories (e.g. A River Runs Through It), musings on manhood, and existential fables. But these fishing-as-life metaphors sometimes become trite, losing their significance. My guest today wanted to write a book about fishing that explores the philosophical but does so in a fresh and more nuanced way. He wanted to write a book about fishing that’s not about fishing. And I think he did a darn good job. His name is Mark Kingwell, and in his book Catch and Release: Trout Fishing and the Meaning of Life, he shares the story of his acquired love for fly fishing and uses it as the context within which to explore themes of masculinity, boredom, procrastination, and more. Today on the show Mark and I discuss the beauty of the perfect fly cast and how it relates to the philosophical debate of form vs function, why doing things with “style” is an important part of manliness, and what fishing can teach us about the active vs. contemplative life. Follow us! https://ift.tt/YAd15k http://twitter.com/artofmanliness