They're in the River (Picador Shorts)

A master chronicler of American life introduces us to the iconic and most curious American shad.

A pithy, humorous, and illuminating standalone extract from John McPhee’s twenty-sixth book, The Founding Fish.

McPhee, himself a shad fisherman, recounts the fascinating life and ways of this great American wayfarer, most famous for its Odyssean journey as it leaves the ocean in crowds of millions, running heroic distances up America’s rivers to spawn.

McPhee introduces us to the habits and haunts...