California Literary Review Rates Casting a Spell

“Black explores one of the last untrammeled corners of the fly fishing world with wit, thoroughness and passion. But Casting A Spell is much more than a niche effort destined to gather dust in the fly fishing section of local libraries. As Richard Manning, author of Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization, says, ‘This is not just a fishing tale, it is a finely wrought investigation of the major battle of our time: efficiency’s assault on beauty.’” John Holt reviews George Black’s most recent book, Casting a Spell (Random House, August 2006, 272 pages) for the California Literary Review.