Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
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What a wonderful little book. An Englishman working for the Fisheries Council of the UK is asked to work on a project to bring salmon fishing to Yemen. Salmon require cool to cold waters to spawn–places not usually found in the desert. A Sheikh who has purchased a place in Scotland has become enamored of salmon fishing and wants to bring it to his country.
As the Englishman’s marriage begins to deteriorate he focuses more and more of his time on the project. The story is told via emails, journals and letters and has a quiet inspiration to it. Everyone but the Sheikh believes the project is doomed. The Sheikh has the money to bring about this miracle. And the Englishman comes to believe that maybe he shouldn’t stand in the way of possible miracles. As the Sheikh tells the Englishman, even if the project fails we will have learned something.
This is a very quick read and might also appeal to those who like to see bureaucracy and politics skewered.