The Run Paperback – December 21, 2008

I read this book 30 years ago and decided to become a naturalist, but I found the coursework too dry. I got it for my wife and reread it myself, finding it as gripping now as then. Part of the reason is that The Run, which is in Brewster MA, was my backyard growing up But I would urge anyone with an interest in nature to read this charmer.

Buyer beware. The 5-star reviews are all of hard copy or paperback formats. I'm sure this book is a wonderful read in these formats. Unfortunately, I bought the Kindle version and it is almost unreadable, thanks to the publisher of this Kindle version, Pathfinder Books. Pathfinder proclaims a wonderful mission, which is to make "largely forgotten books of dusty bookshelves" available again as affordable kindle ebooks. Pathfinder even claims to review them meticulously to ensure a quality reading experience on a Kindle! Here are a few examples of quality reading:I had seal these migrant fish before….…each year, dose in time to the vernal equinox……this member of the herring family begins to miter innumerable inlets……..the brackish water that flowed into it was wanner than that of the salt water. In fret a local resident had already noticed….Pathfinder needs to check its spell-check software! I want my money back.

A story that weaves its own spell.

The Run not only describes the process, but brings us closer to these fish, and nature. Philosophic and poetic, we gain insight into the author-naturalist's thinking, in a colorful and dramatic way.

I first read this book in the early 1970s when I was conducting my Ph.D. thesis research, which dealt with the migratory behavior of a fish called the alewife, also known as river herring. Alewife are like small, silvery salmon. About 10 inches long, they migrate into small streams and rivers along the East Coast in the spring to spawn, and the juveniles then migrate to the ocean in the fall, where they live for four or five years before returning to their home stream to spawn. John Hay captures the mystery and delight of an alewife run. Unlike salmon runs that occur in large rivers where the fish can't be seen, alwife migrate into many very small streams, many of which pass through towns and under old mills, such that the fish are readily visible to people. To see thousands of fish stacked up at the base of a dam, knowning that they had traveled thousands of miles in the Atlantic for years before finding their way back to the location where their life began as an egg, is almost incredible. John Hay describes the essence of the alewife in a very informative but tremendously readable style. This is a must read for anyon who enjoys fine writing and has an interest in the natural world.

Sublime and enchanting is how John Hay has the reader feeling. It is truly a superb book, well written and thoughtful as well as thought provoking.