The stories which make up the collection "Dry Fly Gospel" share the common theme of fly-fishing. The characters struggle with major life changes, and in many cases receive a certain amount of hope thanks to the "Good News" about fly-fishing (that it's good for you ). The stories include "Dry Fly Gospel: Excerpts from the long-lost fishing journal of the disciple John" (originally published in the Yale Anglers Journal); "These Fishers Tell the Infirmities of Men" (originally published in Kaleidoscope) in which war veterans recuperate from the worst wounds of all, those of the mind and soul; "Attracted to Light," part epistle and part self-realization; and "The One That Got Away" (first published on flyfish.com)," which is best described as "X-Files" meets fly-fishing. In between you'll find a fly-fishing nun, a confused grandmother, a tree of mythic proportions and a guide who solves "dirty little problems" like poor casting technique in a send-up of the hardboiled genre.