Hooked : An angler's journey through Russis

Fen Montaigne

Published by St. Martin's Press, softcover


"By fishing his way across Eurasia, Fen Montaigne has gotten closer to the essence of modern Russia than any writer in a generation. Worthy of Bruce Chatwin or Paul Theroux's travel adventures, this is a deliciously funny book, but it is allo, like the rivers Montaigne stands in, haunting, vivid and deep."
--David Remnick, author of LENIN'S TOMB

In the summer of 1996, Montaigne embarked on a 100 day, 7,000 mile trek to fly fish across Russia. This moving account of his adventures provide striking illumination into the lives of common people living in "eternal" Russia--that vast territory that lies outside the major cities. He enduren fierce squalls on the lakes and seas, an attempted drugging on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and visits former Gulag labor camps. Montaigne highlights the humanity and tribulations of the people living in the madhouse that is Russia today: a former Communist who now runs a capitalist empire, a group of Siberian truckers, and a Gulag survivor, to name a few. Hooked is a bizarre and hilarious odyssey that imparts a unique perspective and feel for the great Russian nation.