The Laugh of the Water Nymph and other River Stories.
By Doug Ammons.

Doug's book arrived through the post the other day; delivered to me at
work. We broke for breakfast/lunch and went down to the cafe for a
traditional British fry-up. I tore into the book. I knew I shouldn't but
I couldn't stop myself; I wanted to find out what stories Doug had
included. Trying to read the introduction and the chapter listings
between mouthfuls was a bad idea - baked-bean sauce now stains the
pages!

For many the name Doug Ammons will be unknown this side of the Atlantic
and even over States-side he is not well known. Doug hails from Montana
where he learnt to paddle and then used to drive crazy drives to the
North Fork of the Payette in Idaho. There he met Rob Lesser and through
Rob developed what can only be described as an unhealthy fixation with
the Stikine, leading to Doug's biggest "head game" paddle: his solo
descent of the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. He is from the generation
when "freestyle" was in its infancy, the term "Park and Play" had not
been coined and the hottest move when playing was a "Polish Ender". Doug
won pretty well everything for a couple of those early years but
exploring and river running was where he wanted to be.

The book is divided into three. In the first section - entitled
"Horizon Lines" - the tales tell of learning, discovery and the joys of
youthful naivety and enthusiasm. In this section is the eponymous "The
Laugh of the Water Nymph", a summer afternoon reverie half way through
a relaxed river trip.

The second section, called "Other Truths", is Doug's musing on the state
of the kayaking world. His satirical attack on the destruction of the
soul of extreme sports by their commercialisation in "The Attack Of the
Killer Radical Extremes" pulls no punches and is as subtle as a sledge
hammer. The companion piece "The Tahiti Room" is the answer and through
the introduction to the reader of the sport of underwater climbing in
rivers tells how enjoyment of a sport can become a pursuit of dreams and
then a dangerous single-minded fanaticism.

The final section of the book "Beyond Class V" details some of Doug's
major trips: trips to the Stikine and Aqua Azul and others but as you
would expect these are not just accounts of how the trip went, with a
list of the logistics and a few descriptions of the bigger rapids. Doug
goes further and reveals to the reader his emotions, the ebb and flow of
the trip giving you more than just a flavour of the exploit.

Sandwiched in the middle are 32 superb pages of colour photos from
around the globe: British Columbia and the Stikine, Nepal and the Thule
Beri, Mexico, Bolivia, and more

Doug has written the best book on white water - period. This is not a
collection of tales of derring-do or reportage of epics had; it is
Doug's attempt to answer that question "why". It is the nearest I am
going to get a written reason why I paddle/have paddled hard white
water. Even if it does not answer your questioning why you paddle white
water it will give you a whole load of new questions to ask yourself on
those lonely drives back from a weekend of river running. You know the
drive: your mate is asleep, the radio is broadcasting only phone ins,
the tape deck has a chewed tape in it / the CD player jumps / the ipod
is out of battery or you just want quiet. Reflecting on Doug's book will
get you home awake!
--
Dave Manby
Details of the Coruh river and my book "Many Rivers To Run" at
http://www.dmanby.demon.co.uk