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The Bright Country: A Fisherman's Return to Trout, Wild Water, and Himself
When Harry Middleton lost his job at a prominent magazine, it was but the beginning of what turned out to be a year marked by personal crisis. In the course of that year, as he searched for new work and battled severe depression, he eventually ended up in Denver, where he began exploring the high mountain country west of the city. For Middleton, the turning point in his long journey through life's dark side came with the discovery of a blind brown trout in a Rocky Mountain stream where Middleton spent his every spare moment feeding what he calls his "terrible addiction" to fly fishing. That bright river and the blind trout would assume a larger significance and become for him a metaphor for struggle and survival. Middleton's terms with life as it is, with the fits and starts of the human condition, seems always to involve trout and fly fishing. Middleton's books are dominated not only by memorable rivers and trout but also by some of literature's most colorful, comical, and fascinating people. The Bright Country is no exception. As we follow Middleton on his journey through the terrain of paradise and hell, we meet: Swami Bill, president and CEO of the Holistic Motor Court, Ashram & Coin Laundry in Boulder, Colorado; his main squeeze, the heartbreakingly beautiful Kiwi LaReaux; a short-order cook who spends his nights on the roof of a west Texas hotel looking at the night sky through a cracked telescope; there is the life and death of truth, Dr. truth; the seductive Mi Oh, hostess at the Now & Zen restaurant in Denver; and, of course, the blind brown trout in its blind eyes Middleton finds not dead shadows but living light.
259 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1993
About the author
Harry Middleton
20 books22 followersLittle is known about Middleton's life other than the information he offered through his novels. Middleton died working as a garbage man in the summer of 1993 from a suspected brain aneurysm while swimming at a pool with his children. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Marcy Middleton and sons, Travis and Sean Middleton of Birmingham, Alabama; father, Harry Frederick Middleton, Scottsdale, Arizona; sister, Mrs. Donna Middleton Bates; grandparents, Mrs. Rose Middleton, Shreveport, Louisiana and Travis Jones, Arkansas.
He had previously worked as an outdoors columnist for Southern Living magazine , but in his book, The Bright Country, he writes off his sudden dismissal from the magazine. Prior to working at Southern Living, Middleton wrote in the early 1980s for a magazine called Louisiana Life. His column of personal observations, entitled "Louisiana At Large," included essays with titles such as "The Day the Spider Died," and "The Boy's First Brush with Education."
Middleton was an English major at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and earned a master's degree in Western history at Louisiana State University in 1973. His thesis: Frontier outpost: a history of Fort Jesup, Louisiana, 1822-1846 .
He lived in New Orleans, where he wrote about food, art, music and books for Figaro, an alternative newspaper. He later moved to Birmingham.
Harry Middleton is also widely considered to be an outstanding American fishing writer. His signed books command high prices and are collectable. His first was published in 1989.
Middleton published the following books:
Rivers of Memory, published by Pruett Publishing Company, April 1993, 112 pages.[4]
The Earth is Enough, published by Pruett Publishing Company, March 1995, 228 pages.[5]
On the Spine of Time, published by Pruett Publishing Company, March 1997, 200 pages.[6]
The Bright Country, published by Pruett Publishing Company, October 2000, 259 pages.[7]
Middleton also published a LTD Edition Book called "The Starlight Creek Angling Society" Meadow Run Press.
He was awarded :
Friends of American Writers Award
Outdoor Writers Association of America Best Book Award
Southeastern Outdoor Press Best Book Award
He had previously worked as an outdoors columnist for Southern Living magazine , but in his book, The Bright Country, he writes off his sudden dismissal from the magazine. Prior to working at Southern Living, Middleton wrote in the early 1980s for a magazine called Louisiana Life. His column of personal observations, entitled "Louisiana At Large," included essays with titles such as "The Day the Spider Died," and "The Boy's First Brush with Education."
Middleton was an English major at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, and earned a master's degree in Western history at Louisiana State University in 1973. His thesis: Frontier outpost: a history of Fort Jesup, Louisiana, 1822-1846 .
He lived in New Orleans, where he wrote about food, art, music and books for Figaro, an alternative newspaper. He later moved to Birmingham.
Harry Middleton is also widely considered to be an outstanding American fishing writer. His signed books command high prices and are collectable. His first was published in 1989.
Middleton published the following books:
Rivers of Memory, published by Pruett Publishing Company, April 1993, 112 pages.[4]
The Earth is Enough, published by Pruett Publishing Company, March 1995, 228 pages.[5]
On the Spine of Time, published by Pruett Publishing Company, March 1997, 200 pages.[6]
The Bright Country, published by Pruett Publishing Company, October 2000, 259 pages.[7]
Middleton also published a LTD Edition Book called "The Starlight Creek Angling Society" Meadow Run Press.
He was awarded :
Friends of American Writers Award
Outdoor Writers Association of America Best Book Award
Southeastern Outdoor Press Best Book Award
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 15, 2021
Wow I am not sure what to say about this book. It felt like a slog trying to get use to the author's style and vocabulary, but the last 1/3 of this book turned around my thoughts on this book. Even though I give a 3 star rating, I think repeated reading would improve my thoughts on this book.
Definitely some powerful chapters here with some interesting characters. It is less about fly fishing and more about a man's journey to find himself through tough times and how his love of nature helped him through depression.
My best advice for reading this book is to have no prior conceptions on what you think the book will be about and go with the flow of what the author is sharing. It might not sound like he is going anywhere with certain stories or insights, but it does start tying together by the last 1/3 of the book.
Definitely some powerful chapters here with some interesting characters. It is less about fly fishing and more about a man's journey to find himself through tough times and how his love of nature helped him through depression.
My best advice for reading this book is to have no prior conceptions on what you think the book will be about and go with the flow of what the author is sharing. It might not sound like he is going anywhere with certain stories or insights, but it does start tying together by the last 1/3 of the book.
December 10, 2008
Harry Middleton - enough said.
February 14, 2013
Another great story from a great writer. The Bright Country makes you laugh, and then it rips your heart right out. After all, this is human life Harry is describing - his own.
June 1, 2022
Ollie Ollie Oxen Free
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews