Growing Up, Growing Old & Going Fishing at the End of the Road

by Tom Bodett

A collection of short stories from The Big Garage on Clear Shot chronicles the offbeat lives of the colorful inhabitants of The End of the Road, a small town in Alaska. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Audio Cassette
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553470183
• ISBN13: 9780553470185
• Release Date: February 1992
• Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.3" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Fishing Is Companionship Not a Sport.

In his book, 'Rock Elephant,' Sam Venable quotes Henry David Thoreau, "many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after." Thus is life. In 1982, my brother spent time with his troubled grandson "going fishing." Though Ralph was uneducated in books, he was a master at endurance and perserverance in the ongoing education at the school of hard knocks. Life is hard for some no matter what they do. Fishing is all about love and companionship, even a long-lasting friendship of sort as shown in Sam's book. I went fishing exactly once that I can remember. I could not sit still nor be quiet as a young girl; the end of fishing for me. But many people (men and women) get great enjoyment from going out in a boat on the Tennessee River (at Clifton and in Knoxville) and spend hours just lazing and getting Vitamin from the sun. In 'Suttree,' the protaganost was a fisherman who lived the night life on the river as Tammy's paw did in the movie, living on a riverboat. I know someone who spent a year on a boat in Alaska. Now, with those long cold nights and below zero temperatures, fishing is on the ice and not the open waters. Soon, though, with the global warming, the fish will be jumping in the boats to get out of the hot water. One young man in Pulaski would go fishing with his dad in hip-high boots. They would just grab a fish without a rod and reel or fish hooks (those dangerous things which can cause a lot of pain if you mistakenly let it slip and get caught in your hand) and I could not believe they'd call that fishing. The carp (enormous things) are near the Volunteer Landing and want to be fed. My favorite food has always been fish since the young days when we'd go to the town square every Saturday and eat fish at a diner. In Alabama, I learned to love the taste of catfish when I was able to go on Fridays to eat all you can for one price and even take some home. Too bad all the country does not have such specials. Fishing is more than a pastime; it is a way of life for those who make a business out of selling what they catch. In the Northeast, there are trawling boats out in the ocean who bring home the bacon (no--fish).