The One that Got Away … by Howell Raines
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Recently finished this book and wanted to post. Here’s my take:
Raines is a seriously good writer, capable of deep thinking, strong emotion and dazzling prose. Some readers will remember Raines for his previous fishing book, of a dozen years ago, called Flyfishing Through the Midlife Crisis. You don’t have to be a geezer to enjoy that one.
The One that Got Away is a different — much different — book. Raines remaines a terrific storyteller, but his motives for this book are, we must say, suspect. Some of you will remember that Raines was the executive editor of The New York Times, a position he attained only a week before 9/11. He led the paper to seven Pulitizer prizes that year, but was fired in the aftermath of the Jayson Blair scandal a couple years later, Blair being the guy who made up stories, or plagiarized them, and published them in Raines’ paper.
Thus, there’s lots of non-fishing in this book, and much of it centers on his experience at The Times. As for the book’s title, it’s clearly a reference to the job that got away, the one that he’d dedicated his life to attaining. If Raines really did hook a 200-pound sailfish in the South Pacific, then fight it for eight hours on light fly tackle. give him credit for catching the biggest metaphor ever. And if he made it up, well, it’s a fish story, right?
But beware of this book if your politics currenly favor those in power. Hard to imagine a right-wing reader who wouldn’t grind his teeth at some of the political views expressed therein. If you’re a lefty, keep in mind that Raines is also the guy who tormented Bill Clinton for eight solid years, as Raines was previously the editorial page editor for the NYT, and he hounded Clinton mercilessly over the non-existant Whitewater scandal and other perceived misdeeds.
Supposedly, in Raines’ new life, he’s dedicated himself to pursuit of fish. That may be true. But this book reeks of score settling wrapped inside a fish story that’s almost certainly fantasy. Still, because Raines is such a fine writer, I stuck with it with no regret. If you do too, however, I’d encourage you to learn more about Raines and his reign of terror as executive editor at The New York Times. The Raines you hear about from others is not the guy you meet in Raines’ books. But it’s the guy in the book whom I’d like to know.
WBM
Good points all, G. And I felt the same way about his destinations. Even though I spent more than 100 days on the river this year, nearly all of it was in my home state (Colorado). It’s highly doubtful I’ll ever run into Howell on the river. But if I did, I’d congratulate him and wish him well.
What fascinates, me, though is this: Here’s a guy who was brought down by a liar (Jayson Blair). Yet Raines himself almost surely invented a fish story as a vehicle for telling his Times story. Now this is a memoir, which is usually defined as a personal perception of what actually happened. To think that Raines was brought down by a fabricator, and extracts his revenge by fabricating himself, seems preposterous. But there you have it.
Did you believe the sailfish story?
I have not read any Howell Raines, but I saw him at the Fly Tackle Retailer show and I heard a lot of the remarks others made about him, some from well-published authors themselves.
Your loss, Zach.
I learned a long time ago (a John Gierach incident) that you’ve got to separate the books from the guys who do the typing.
WBM
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