Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch - Booked by the Cover

Welcome to the Book by the Cover Blog(cast), a spin on a podcast I'm currently able to record again! Please look forward to new podcasts this month-find the older ones on YouTube.

Today's (audio) book is: Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch.

While writing this post, I am still in New York City. After seeing this book on the shelf at H&H bookstore in Philadelphia and heading to New York, I decided to look deeper into David Lynch's life-especially his bites of the Big Apple. I found David Lynch organized a campaign to stop littering in the concrete jungle, another name for NYC. His anti-littering campaign was in the early 90s. I'm not sure how it turned out, but streets are relatively free of litter now. I wonder if that's at least in part thanks to his efforts decades ago. 

The book cover here is visually simple, but there are multiple captions to inspire travels.

The background color is a deep, yet bright blue. Across the center is a thin stream of water. The water gives a metallic vibe and has droplets of water breaking off from the central stream giving the impression the water is splashing more than flowing. 

All of the text on the cover is white and mostly in all caps. The author's name is in large print above the stream of water. Underneath the stream of water is the title in mid-sized print and a subtitle: meditation, consciousness, and creativity shortly below. At the top of the cover are other details about this audio book. The Penguin Publishing logo is in the top left corner, and in the opposite corner is a detail stating two unabridged CDs make up the entirety of the audio book. In the middle is the statement: Read by the author. The Penguin logo adds another splash of color. This splash is orange and oval shaped with an illustrated penguin in the middle. The little penguin is facing to its right. 

Now let's see what we can do to make this audio book cover into a travel Itinerary. 

Starting from the top with the help of AI: penguins? the color orange?

BTW, I love AI. AI and I have a special relationship, and I adore it. I am honest with AI, though. AI can be a bit of loon. But boy oh boy does AI know how to turn that loony into luxury.

Let's tune in to this loon...

AI has presented various natural tourist spots bursting with the hue (orange). They are: Merzouga, Morocco; Arches National Park, Utah; Deadvlei, Namibia; Antelope Canyon, Arizona, US; Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia; Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, California, US; and Laguna Colorado, Bolivia. If I had to choose, I would pick between the first and last options. The first offers sand surfing and the other is an orange lake. Wow; there are two great options. I think the lake wins.

AI lifted this info about orange places from Seeker's "11 Orange Places You Need to Add to Your Bucket List" article. And according to the more artfully-written article (no offense, AI), these places are a particular "Dreamsicle-colored" shade of orange. 

[ I loved Dreamsicles as a kid! Why is this word getting the red squiggly underneath the word? It's a well-known proper noun.

If you do not know about THE Dreamsicle, just know it is a creamy and tart orange-esk dream of an ice cream treat. Eat one.

Researching to ensure my sanity.

They are no longer produced. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Go on this itinerary as a substitute. 😄 ]

Back to the orange lake.

[ No. I am upset about this Dreamsicle robbery. 

Dreamsicle was tastier-in both taste and texture than the prevailing Creamsicle you can still buy today. When you bite into a Creamsicle, you get an icy feedback. When you bit into a Dreamsicle, you would get chilly soft cotton-candy vibes. 

Chilly cotton-candy vibes, y'all! 

*Creamsicles are also good and worth buying.* ]

Ok, back to the orange lake place for real this time.

This place is in Bolivia, and when I read more about the location, I found other sources describe it as red instead of orange. The pictures available present more of an orange color from what I can see, but both red and orange are accurate. However, due to the two opposing descriptions, I will return to the first option as the top choice. The sand is, unlike the lake, indisputably orange. Also, sand boarding is an exciting creative activity.

So now let's go back to Merzouga, Morocco, where the sand boarding happens. This activity is similar to snowboarding but on sand and not snow. Apparently, this location is also popular for its camel riding and tents; these activities don't match well with the book cover but are helpful for meditation, consciousness, and creativity-the subtitle of the audiobook.

Now what? Penguins?

According to this lovely article found online, penguins were confused with auks by English sailors. I don't understand the specifics here, but these penguin-like birds in Morocco are also better known as Little Penguins or Razorbills. Other sources state Razorbills are not Penguins, but regardless, Razorbills behave like penguins with their swimming prowess and other fish-like qualities. 

In search of Little Penguins, it's best for travelers to go to the open waters. There's a Razorbill Observation cruise available in Quebec, Canada. This could perhaps fit at the start or end of this itinerary.

Now let's see what we can find related to reading or authors. 

One well-known author's name is Tahar Ben Jelloun. He wrote a renowned novel titled The Sand Child. The setting of the book is Marrakech, Morocco where we'll find our next tourist attraction, the Ourika River.  This area has waterfalls and rapids that capture the water displayed on the center of the cover of the book. The river will undoubtedly allow good opportunities to meditate while reading this book in Morocco adds to the consciousness of the experience. 

Now for the CDs. We already talked a little bit about CDs in the last post. So here we can expand the music CDs into other compact disks like DVDs. 

I didn't find a specific place, but there are many music and film festivals available in Morocco. Since David Lynch was himself a musician and filmmaker, I imagine he would encourage a long stay in Morocco to allow attending as many festivals as possible. Plus all of the festivals, there are regional Souks (markets) and Riads (courtyards) that offer live music and movies amidst bustling or intimate audiences and venues.  

Festivals to consider are: the Gnaoua World Music Festival, the Festival of World Sacred Music, and the Mawazine Festival. While searching for connections between David Lynch and Morocco, AI informed me he won an award at the 2002 Marrakech Film Festival. Congrats, David! 

And with that, that's the end of this Morocco with a splash of Canada-focused itinerary inspired by the audio book: Catching the Big Fish.

Start with a day cruise in Quebec to see healthy little penguins in one of their natural habitats. Fly over to Morocco while listening to the audio book and start reading The Sand Child. Go surfing in orange sands in Merzouga. Adore the serenity and scenic blue views by the water of the Ourika River in Marrakech-keep reading and/or meditate a little. Along the way, attend and enjoy as many film and music shows/festivals as you can. With that, going with the flow and catching the big fish shouldn't be too much to chew-especially for biters of the Big Apple. 

Chilly cotton-candy vibes, y'all! 

You're welcome to follow on Instagram for more content. Pages Dale, LLC is developing a place-for small museums and authors/illustrators especially-to be seen in the education and publishing scene. Registration to advertise on a seasonal basis is now open for the Sep - Nov, Autumn 2025 package.

https://www.instagram.com/pagesdale/