A champion surfcaster tells of the twisting life path that lead her to the male-dominated sport, including drug and alcohol addiction, a bad marriage, and more tough luck that competitive fishing helped put behind her.
A fascinating story of fish and their predilections...Messineo's memoir is also intimately personal ... Messineo's voice is passionate and she's an enthralling storyteller concerned about the environment and continuing the traditions of the individual fisherman. Humor, zealousness and adoration more than smooth some minor disjointed thoughts and repetitions, making this memoir a prize catch.
...spectacular...and illuminating ... Messineo wears her own feelings close to the surface and tracks her own emotional ups and down and her abuse of alcohol and opioids to which she had relatively easy access ... Messineo vividly describes [w]hat it feels like, and what it looks and sounds like, to stand alone in the darkness at the edge of a body of water hell-bent on catching a fish, no easy feat for a newcomer or a seasoned fisherman ... Readers who like to eat and to fish and who have enjoyed summers on Martha’s Vineyard might appreciate Casting into the Light. Messineo’s book is a great introduction to the island, its geography, topography, and history, including some of the history of the Indians who were the first humans to fish for striped bass ... It offers a compelling and candid story of an unrelenting pursuit for meaning and happiness.
Casting Into the Light is by no means literary. Its language is unadorned, and bits of its diverging chapters repeat themselves. But Ms. Messineo is always an amiable and entertaining storyteller who—much to her own surprise—has found a sort of bliss she would like more women to share.
