The Big One: An Island, an Obsession, and the Furious Pursuit of a Great Fish

Grown men have cried over the derby. They have ignored their wives for week after week, sleepwalked through work day after day, stayed up all night long, skipped out on their jobs altogether, drawn unemployment, burned through every last day of their vacation time, downed NoDoz and Red Bull and God knows what else. They have spied on their rivals and lied to their friends. They have told off strangers and cheated like lowlife bums. If you believe the conspiracy theorists, they have prosecuted bogus charges of rules breaking to get their adversaries tossed from the competition. People have died fishing the thing.

Published to rave reviews and purchased by DreamWorks in a major film deal, The Big One is a spellbinding and richly atmospheric work of narrative journalism in the tradition of Friday Night Lights.

Here is the story of a community—Martha’s Vineyard—and a sporting event—the island’s legendary Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby—that is rendered with the same depth, color, and emotional power of the best fiction. Among the characters we meet: Dick Hathaway, a crotchety legend who once caught a bluefish from a helicopter and was ultimately banned for cheating; Janet Messineo, a recovering alcoholic who says that striped bass saved her life; Buddy Vanderhoop, a boastful Native American charter captain who guides celebrity anglers like Keith Richards and Spike Lee; and Wyatt Jenkinson, a nine-year-old fishing fanatic whose mother is battling brain cancer. At the center of it all is five-time winner Lev Wlodyka, a cagey local whose next fish will spark a storm of controversy and throw the tournament into turmoil.

Much more than just a book for fishing enthusiasts, The Big One is an exhilarating story of passion and obsession—and a powerful testament to the dreams that keep us all going.