A River Runs through It and Other Stories

A collection set in early twentieth-century Montana, comprising two novellas and a short story based on Norman MacLean's own experiences as a young man. The title novella is now recognized as one of the great American tales of the twentieth century. The stories take place in the small towns and mountains of western Montana, a world populated with drunks, loggers, card sharks, and whores, as well as those who find pleasure in fly-fishing, logging, cribbage, and family life. The narratives are by turns raunchy and elegiac, expressing what MacLean describes as "a little of the love I have for the earth as it goes by." The collection is characterized by beautiful prose and understated emotional insights, reflecting MacLean's lifelong rapture for fly-fishing, the woods, and the interlocked beauty of life and art. The work draws from a rich American literary tradition and has established itself as a classic of the American West. This edition includes a new foreword by Robert Redford, director of the Academy Award–winning film adaptation.