| The River Why | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | David James Duncan |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fiction |
| Publisher | Sierra Club Books |
| Publication date | 1983 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 294 (First edition, hardback) |
| ISBN |
ISBN 0871563215 (First edition, hardback) |
| OCLC Number | 8387325,12252172 |
| Followed by | The Brothers K |
The River Why is an 1983 novel by David James Duncan. While it initially starts off as a fishing story, The River Why turns into the story of a young person struggling to come to grips with the modern world.
Contents |
A coming of age story narrated by Gus Orviston, the oldest son in a fishing mad family. Frustrated with life in Portland and the constant bickering of his bait fishing mother and tweed wearing fly fishing father over the proper way to fish, Gus moves to a small cabin in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range. Once there he begins to follow an "ideal schedule" that has him doing nothing but eating, sleeping and fishing. In the course of doing nothing but what he loves to do he begins to notice the scars that humanity has inflicted on the river and woods he loves. As he wrestles with what to do he begins to relate with the people in his neighborhood, and discovers a beautiful fisherwoman that helps him discover that there is more to life than just fishing.[1]
Voted 35th best novel in the San Francisco Chronicle list of The 20th Century's 100 Best Books of the American West.[2]
In 2002, Sierra Club Books released a 20th Anniversary Edition that includes a new afterword by the author describing Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks influence on him at the age of 16 and how this led him to a life of literature. Duncan also uses the afterword to describe the process that led to the writing of The River Why, and the difficulty finding a publisher. Throughout the piece Duncan speaks of political, religious, and environmental ideas that are the basis of The River Why, The Brothers K (1992, ISBN 055337849x), River Teeth (1996, ISBN 0553378279), My Story As Told By Water (2001, ISBN 1578050839), God Laughs and Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right, (ISBN 0977717003) as well as other essays and published writings.
The book is the basis of a film starring Zach Gilford, William Hurt and Amber Heard. The film was released to critics in April, 2010. [3]
The novel was adapted for the stage by Book-It Repertory Theatre of Seattle and produced in early 2010. [4]