Reviews

With prose as engaging as it is thoughtful, Halverson has crafted an absorbing cautionary tale of ecological trial and error, documenting our tardy but increasing understanding of biological interdependence and its immeasurable value.
-  Washington Post, February 28, 2010

Great read. I'm in the middle of it. Drop everything and buy it.
-  Ted Williams in Fly Rod and Reel, March 18, 2010

Make no mistake, this book is a major event in the history of angling and ecological analysis. It needs to become the stuff of every angler's conversation and practice. And it's such a pleasure to read!
-  Gordon Wickstrom in American Angler, May/June 2010

Halverson entertainingly introduces some of the most tangled questions in conservation biology: What is a species? What is native? What is natural? What is wild?
-  Science Magazine, April 2, 2010

Halverson's book is a microhistory, an examination of America's involvement with a favored fish that sheds light on broader truths regarding our recent relationship with the natural world.
-  Chronicle of Higher Education, February 28, 2010

The book tells how, with the best of intentions and the worst of outcomes, rainbow trout took over American rivers, lakes and streams.
-  Seattle Times, February 27, 2010

A fascinating story of man’s urge to cultivate and disseminate a beautiful coldwater fish—at times to the detriment of native species but also the joy of anglers who would not otherwise have the opportunity to catch a trout. A gripping blend of early American history, discussions on taxonomy, and questions of how best to preserve wildness and the indigenous in a world where the human relationship to Nature is complex and always changing.
-  James Prosek author of Trout of the World

In this brilliant study, Anders Halverson illuminates the astonishing history of the rainbow trout, a native of the tributaries of eastern and western Pacific coastal rivers, but introduced to at least 45 countries, and every continent except Antarctica. But why does he call it 'an entirely synthetic fish?' You'll have to read this remarkable book for the answer.
-  Richard Ellis, author of Tuna: A Love Story and On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear

The historical research, personal interviews, and putting it together has produced an outstanding piece of work.
-  Robert Behnke, Professor Emeritus, Colorado State University, and author of Trout and Salmon of North America

Anyone interested in life as metaphor will find here the fascinating historical story of how different people saw their highest ideals and aspirations through the lens of a single, uncommonly compelling fish. And like democracy—but with perhaps more success—they spread it around the world. This unusually well-written, interesting book deserves a place of honor for everyone who sees in trout more than ‘just’ a fish.
-  Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean, Eye of the Albatross, and The View From Lazy Point

A small book that could influence some big management issues if the right people read it.
-  Peter Moyle, Professor of Fish Biology, UC Davis and coauthor of Fishes: an introduction to ichthyology

This book rewards readers in two equally significant ways. First, it entertains us with stories of intrinsic interest and even mind-stretching improbability. Second, it invites us to be smarter and more congenial citizens, more inclined to think productively about our environmental challenges and dilemmas, and more prepared to rise above faction and return to regarding 'the public good.'
-  Patricia Nelson Limerick, Faculty Director of Center for the American West, and author of The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West and Something in the Soil: Legacies and Reckonings in the New West