A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing: Stories by Tim Weed. Green Writers Press. 2017. 978-0-9974528-7-7
($24.95) Hardcover.
Diving
into this collection of short stories by writer and travel expert Tim Weed, you
might want to pack your bags and roam the continent in search of great
harrowing adventures. And in some ways, this collection delivers on that. But
embedded in these narratives, is a deeper longing, a desperate, and sometimes
frustrating relationship, between his protagonist’s fraught desires, fears, and
dreams. The depth of emotions reveal subtle, dynamic, and often stunning
revelations.
In
stories like “Tower Eight,” “Mouth of the Tropics,” “Diamondback Mountain,” and
“Keepers,” Weed moves the physical world to the forefront where nature, mountains,
fish, weather conditions, and the reality of nature itself become antagonistic.
These stories echo the Hemingway tradition
of fronting raw power and natural uncertainty as a means to test a character's
fate. This can end in a lesson learned or life lost. But his complexity is not
limited to this “surviving nature” theme.
Tim
Weed’s balance of emotional connection and physical space is always true to the
lyrical sense of his prose. At times, the physical locations: Cuba, Grenada,
Colorado, the slopes of New Hampshire, Spain, Italy, all play roles in the
narratives that balance the emotional depth to the physicality of these
locations. Each story hinges on a moment where physical space and emotional
connection criss-cross. In “Diamondback Mountain,” a field guide who has fallen
for a movie actress finds himself caught up in such emotions it feels like it
materializes into a great collapse of his life on the side of the mountain.
“At
first he is frantic, but he can’t move more than a twitch, and gradually a
feeling of serenity washes over him. When he thinks about it, he’s known for a
while that this or something like it was coming. In a way, the pressure of the
snow is soothing.”
The
balance between falling in love with an actress and the collapse of any kind of
his dreams come down on him, catching him in a balance between the physical
world and the metaphorical realm that Weed strikes. “Six Feet under the
Prairie” connects to the physical and emotional conflict of utility linemen
working on the open prairie, fraught with two men at odds with one another,
while mourning the loss of the open wilderness for that of suburban
development. This harsh and sometimes majestic landscape is constantly
fluctuating between a lyrical lesson and a very real and hard-won place in the
world.
Beyond
the natural battles and the lyrical vision of his prose, Weed is at his best
when he is pushing the edge of obsessions. His stories connect when we feel the
misguided love, the vision of beauty, and the hope that love will follow from
one continent to another. In “A Winter Break in Rome,” the narrator (Justin) is obsessed with Kate, another student on
winter break in Europe. In the hopes of connecting romantically with her,
Justin gets into a fight with local Italian boys and he is beaten for his
troubles. In the aftermath, missing a few teeth, there is a deeply moving
moment where Justin asks Kate to join him in Greece for the remainder of the
trip. Instead of giving him an answer, she says, “Crete should be beautiful
this time of year. Also Mykonos. You should definitely go there.” And the dream
of being together is dashed in one allusive phrase. His physical beating and
now his emotional loss cohabitate across the table. It is desperate, sad, and
classically romantic.
A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing is more than a collection of adventure stories. It is a
significant and moving collection of ideas, snapshots, and visions that leave a
lasting impression. Tim Weed’s masterful approach to the opposing forces of his
character (nature and emotions) always reveals well-crafted moving stories. It
is clear that his experience as a travel expert, educator, and writer has honed
his craft to transcend adventure writing to an emotional experience that is
timely and deeply moving. Never predictable, this collection is a must for
travelers, adventure seekers, and anyone who cares to examine the depth of his
varied and flawed characters. Tim Weed is the author of the historical fiction
novel Will Poole's Island (2014) and
is available in e-book and print format.
