Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

by Torday, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780151012763
• ISBN10: 0151012768
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-04-02
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary

Dr. Alfred Jones is a henpecked, slightly pompous middle-aged scientist at the National Centre for Fisheries Excellence in London when he is approached by a mysterious sheikh about an outlandish plan to introduce the sport of salmon fishing into the Yemen. Dr. Jones refuses, but the project, however scientifically absurd, catches the eye of British politicians, who pressure him to work on it. His diaries of the Yemen Salmon Project, from beginning to glorious, tragic end, form the narrative backbone of this novel; interspersed throughout are government memos, e-mails, letters, and interview transcripts that deftly capture the absurdity of bureaucratic dysfunction. With a wickedly wonderful cast of charactersincluding a weasel-like spin doctor, a missing soldier and his intrepid fiance, and Dr. Joness own devilish wifeSalmon Fishing in the Yemen is the whimsical story of an unlikely hero who discovers true love, finds himself first a pawn and then a victim of political spin, and learns to believe in the impossible.

Author Biography

PAUL TORDAY studied English literature at Pembroke College, Oxford, before embarking on a business career. He lives in Northumberland. This is his first book.

Table of Contents

Extracts
The origins of the Yemen Salmon Project	p. 1
Extracts from the diary of Dr Alfred Jones: his wedding anniversary	p. 12
Feasibility of introducing salmon into the Yemen	p. 34
Extracts from the diary of Dr Jones: his meeting with Sheikh Muhammad	p. 43
Extracts from the diary of Dr Jones: marital issues may have clouded his judgement	p. 63
Correspondence between Captain Robert Matthews and Ms Harriet Chetwode-Talbot	p. 74
Press comment	p. 87
Intercepts of al-Qaeda e-mail traffic	p. 95
Interview with Peter Maxwell, director of communications, prime ministers office	p. 99
Transcript of Interview with the prime minister, the Rt Hon. Jay Vent MP, on BBC1 The Politics Show	p. 106
Continuation of interview with Peter Maxwell	p. 111
E-mail correspondence between David Sugden, NCFE, and Mr Tom Price-Williams, head of fisheries, Environment Agency	p. 119
Extract from the diary of Dr Jones: his return to Glen Tulloch	p. 123
Interview with Dr Alfred Jones: his meeting with Mr Peter Maxwell and Sheikh Muhammad	p. 133
Peter Maxwell is interviewed for the Time Off column of the Sunday Telegraph, 4 September	p. 150
Interview with Ms Harriet Chetwode-Talbot	p. 156
Extract from Hansard	p. 169
The termination of the employment contract of Dr Jones	p. 176
Correspondence between Captain Robert Matthews and Ms Harriet Chetwode-Talbot	p. 190
Intercepts of al-Qaeda email traffic	p. 203
Extract from Hansard	p. 207
Extracts from the diary of Dr Jones: he visits the Yemen	p. 209
Extract from Hansard	p. 232
Correspondence between Ms Chetwode-Talbot and herself	p. 234
Extract from Peter Maxwells unpublished autobiography, A Helmsman at the Ship of State	p. 239
Script of TV pilot for Prizes for the People	p. 249
Extract from Peter Maxwells unpublished autobiography	p. 256
Evidence of a marital crisis between Dr and Mrs Jones	p. 262
Interview with Dr Alfred Jones: dinner at the Ritz	p. 273
Dr Jones fails to find a date in his diary to meet Mrs Jones	p. 293
Extract from Peter Maxwells unpublished autobiography	p. 297
Dr Joness testimony of events that occurred at the launch of the Yemen salmon project	p. 313
Conclusions of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee	p. 326
Glossary of terms Used in the Extracts	p. 329
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

1THE ORIGINS OF THE YEMEN SALMON PROJECTFitzharris PriceLand Agents ConsultantsSt Jamess StreetLondonDr Alfred JonesNational Centre for Fisheries ExcellenceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsSmith SquareLondon15 MayDear Dr JonesWe have been referred to you by Peter Sullivan at the Foreign Commonwealth Office (Directorate for Middle East and North Africa). We act on behalf of a client with access to very substantial funds, who has indicated his wish to sponsor a project to introduce salmon, and the sport of salmon fishing, into the Yemen.We recognise the challenging nature of such a project, but we have been assured that the expertise exists within your organisation to research and project manage such work, which of course would bring international recognition and very ample compensation for any fisheries scientists who became involved. Without going into any further details at this time, we would like to seek a meeting with you to identify how such a project could be initiated and resourced, so that we may report back to our client and seek further instructions.We wish to emphasise that this is regarded by our client, who is a very eminent Yemeni citizen, as a flagship project for his country. He has asked us to make clear that there will be no unreasonable financial constraints. The Foreign Commonwealth Office supports this project as a symbol of Anglo-Yemeni cooperation.Yours sincerely(Ms) Harriet Chetwode-TalbotNational Centre for Fisheries ExcellenceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsSmith SquareLondonMs Harriet Chetwode-TalbotFitzharris PriceLand Agents ConsultantsSt Jamess StreetLondon1 JuneDear Ms Chetwode-TalbotDr Jones has asked me to thank you for your letter dated 15 May and reply as follows.Migratory salmonids require cool, well-oxygenated water in which to spawn. In addition, in the early stages of the salmon life cycle, a good supply of fly life indigenous to northern European rivers is necessary for the juvenile salmon parr to survive. Once the salmon parr evolves into its smolt form, it then heads downriver and enters saltwater. The salmon then makes its way to feeding grounds off Iceland, the Faroes or Greenland. Optimum sea temperatures for the salmon and its natural food sources are between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius.We conclude that conditions in the Yemen and its geographical location relatively remote from the North Atlantic make the project your client has proposed unfeasible, on a number of fundamental grounds. We therefore regret we will be unable to help you any further in this matter.Yours sincerelyMs Sally Thomas (Assistant to Dr Jones)Office of the Director, National Centre for Fisheries ExcellenceFrom: David SugdenTo: Dr Alfred JonesSubject: Fitzharris Price/ Salmon/ YemenDate: 3 JuneAlfredI have just received a call from Herbert Berkshire, who is private secretary to the parliamentary undersecretary of state at the Foreign and Co

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Excerpted from Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.