David Coggins

"[The author] makes a case for the skills and sensibility of an enduring sport and shares the secrets, frustrations, and triumphs of the great tradition of fly fishing, which has captivated anglers worldwide. Perfect for the novice, the enthusiastic amateur, and the devoted angler alike, The Optimist offers a practical path toward enlightenment while providing a welcome escape into one of the world's ancient pastimes."--

A Case for the Fly Fishing Life

The Optimist

Paris in Winter combines fanciful ink and watercolor drawings by American artist and writer David Coggins with charming vignettes about his family's annual New Year's sojourns to Paris, which, because of their unending love for the city, they've been taking together for almost 20 years. This memoir of poetic, lighthearted stories highlights the family's passion for art and food, fashion and social life. Coggins's delicate and intimate drawings capture classic Parisian scenes as well as family and friends against the backdrop of the elegant City of Light.

An Illustrated Memoir

Paris in Winter

Today’s man may know how to dress with style, but does he know how to behave? Though the rules of civility have changed along with the world, Men and Manners believes in manners. This book doesn’t tell you which fork to use or how to write a thank you note. But it is going to remind you of basic, respectful rules you may have forgotten or have chosen to ignore. Comprised of short essays, shorter interviews, and lists of guidelines for men of all ages, this book provides an honest, playful, and humorous look at the conflicted state of manners today. Subjects that may fluster today’s man†•such as tipping, toasting, texting, grooming, dating, office behavior, and home decor†•are explored with the trademark combination of dry wit and self-deprecating attitude that has made David Coggins one of today’s most well-respected men’s style writers. With humorous illustrations and contributions from some of today’s male style icons, Men and Manners makes the case for being the man who offers the best seat to his companion, who knows when to pick up the tab, and who remembers to do what’s right even if it isn’t always rewarded.

Essays, Advice and Considerations

Men and Manners

The author of the instant fishing classic The Optimist wades into deeper waters and shares new wisdom, humor, and experience in seven extraordinary fly-fishing expeditions that mark one year in his journey through the middle part of life when worldly demands increase even as fishing continues to beckon—and must be pursued. In David Coggins’s previous book, The Optimist, he tackles the techniques of fly fishing and meditates on its virtues, recounting his triumphs and frustrations. Now, in The Believer, he deftly mixes travel, local cultures, further fishing challenges (some knee-buckling in their disappointment), and details his own experience as life and love crowd his time to fish. Self-consciously—and self-deprecatingly—Coggins embarks on seven far-flung fishing voyages, away from screens and social media, not answering his phone, reveling in humanity’s undying yearning for a quest, for the rituals and rites of passage that mark transition. For David, these journeys not only showcase his skill as an angler—including to Norway, Scotland, Spain, Cuba, and Argentina, as well as road trips to Wyoming, Tennessee, and the Catskills—they also signal the end of his fly-fishing youth. But that doesn’t mean that David will sell all his rods and hang up his hat; rather, that his relationship with his fly-fishing obsession will evolve. And he’s okay with that—mostly, especially if he can catch an elusive salmon or a ferociously strong tarpon or the mysterious and almost invisible bonefish. The Believer is a humble, humorous call for the journey that is part of the destination, where the search for greater self-awareness leads to patience, observation, and endurance. And, since this is fly fishing, after all—there’s always the possibility of abject failure and leaping, glorious reward. Wry, entertaining, thoughtful, and relatable, The Believer will hook both anglers and non-anglers alike.

A Year in the Fly Fishing Life

The Believer

Men and Stylereaches beyond standard "what to wear" advice: it is equal parts style guide and intriguing conversation about masculine identity in the world of fashion. The book offers a much-needed source of inspiration for the growing number of men who enjoy expressing who they are through their clothes, manners and lifestyle. Explore the history of men's style and learn from the personal wisdom of some of the most notable tastemakers in the industry and beyond. The book addresses everything from the importance of ties to where to drink in New Orleans to the worst corsage ever worn to a prom. Coggins shares his thoughts on clothes, manners (and misbehaviour) and other gentlemanly concerns, including premature gray, socks or no socks, facial hair, corporate dressing, the difficulties of gift giving and other subjects that men want to discuss and are seeking a forum to do so.

Essays, Interviews, and Considerations

Men and Style

The perfect fly fishing book for today's novice, enthusiastic amateur, as well as the devoted angler is part narration of the author's own angling obsessions and adventures, part practical how-to, and part meditation on a connection to the natural world.

The Nostalgic Heart

Get Krafty With These Unique and Delicious Recipes It's really easy to get set in your ways and into a routine. We do it with a lot of things in life; school, work, morning routines and yes, even cooking. The problem is there are so many different ways to use one ingredient, but we can't see past the usual method of cooking with it. In this book, I will teach you awesome ways to make a simple ingredient, kraft macaroni, into something so much better! My favorite recipe ever: slow cooked mac and cheese, it is to die for!)

Get Krafty with These Delicious Kraft Macaroni Recipes

Krafty Macaroni Cookbook

"A limited edition book of 90 collages containing images of flowers and plants, diary entries, drawings, and photographs that chart the course of a summer in the artist's life. Coggins finds beauty and solace in the Edenesque gardens and woods of the longtime family country home. ... Eden is about connection to place and nature, the camaraderie of family and friends, and the solitude of the studio"--Publisher's website, viewed January 15, 2009.

Summer Collages

Eden

He gained instant fans around the world with tales of his family's many years visiting Paris in winter. Now David Coggins brings to curious, travel-loving readers the same degree of enviable stories and charming illustrations, this time from St. Barts--a perfect compliment to the first book in the series. Blue: A St. Barts Memoir by artist and writer David Coggins is an affectionate, poetic account of his family's annual visits to St. Barthélemy in the French West Indies. As in his popular Paris in Winter, the pages of Blue are full of lyrical writing and vivid watercolors and ink drawings. Coggins and his family have a passion for the simple yet sophisticated pleasures of life on the beautiful French island. That passion is contagious, and the reader is soon caught up in rituals developed and refined over 20 years. Much of it centers around the mountain villa where they stay and the timeless joys of the Caribbean: swimming, reading, sailing, meals overlooking the sea. Coggins describes the natural world lovingly, and captures it in his drawings--sublime sky and sea, lush tropical gardens, abundant wildlife from iguanas to whales. He writes about social life, about the famous and glamorous but more about people who live on the island, chefs, artists, wine sellers, sailors. Blue is a delight for the eye and the mind, an antidote to the pressures of urban life. It's a deeply personal telling of one family's experiences in an idyllic setting, but Coggins's gifts as storyteller and illustrator, conveyed with humanity and a love of life, make Blue universally enchanting.

David Coggins

About

Books

Join the club