Book One, The Compleat Angler: Excerpts from the God-notebook and Being Educated and Gittin Brung Up Summary

Gus's God-notebook is filled with references of God like "R. Lord", "Fathern Heaven", and "Great-Gawd-Amighty". From what he can see, Walton's "God of nature" does not exist in the suburbs of America, nor do any of these gods fish, from what he can tell. The closest Gus gets to religious fanatics are the men who come knocking on their door to "save" them. When they knock on the door, Ma opens it with a double-barreled shotgun aimed at their knees (thinking that if you shot off their knees, you shot off their ability to pray). The closest Gus gets to associating these men with fishing is when one of the door-knockers accuses Gus...