Visions of a gill-compulsive

As a scientific profile of one of the world’s most adaptable life forms -- species of brown trout in Ireland alone have five times the genetic diversity of human populations throughout the world -- the 100 exquisite watercolors and succinct essays in this volume make for an impressive achievement.

But its author is an even more fascinating study. Obsessed with trout by age 9 -- “Everything I ever do, whether it is fishing or not, is fishing” -- James Prosek is a man out of a time, a mad Victorian scholar who circles the globe (Norwegian, Afghan and Japanese trout are among international stock represented here), painting and examining the most minute details of his quarry. At 27, he has written six eloquent books on fishing and become a strange kind of national treasure. If you have an interest in trout or fly-fishing, this colorful book is indispensable.

-- Chuck Thompson