Originally published in 1994, this book was a fly-fishing phenomenon in the way Howell Raines's Fly Fishing Through the Mid-Life Crisis was. Taking his fishing hobby to near metaphysical levels, Ted Leeson tells about his passions: rivers, trout, and fly fishing. With wry humor and rare insight, he explores questions that engage most fishermen: What is it about rivers that draws us so irresistibly, and why does fly fishing seem such an aptly suited response? Above all, The Habit of Rivers is about ways of seeing the wonderfully textured world that emanates from a river.

Ted Leeson's essays and articles have appeared in Fly Fisherman, Field & Stream, The Utne Reader, Gray's Sporting Journal, Men's Journal, and Fly Rod & Reel. He teaches English at Oregon State University in Corvallis and lives in Corvallis, Oregon.