With tongue pressed firmly in cheek and a gentle but penetrating eye for human foibles, Patrick F. McManus celebrates the hidden pleasures, unappreciated lore, and opportunities for disaster to be found in the recreations of camping, hunting, and fishing in his hilarious collection They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?

Gathered here for the reader's edification are such treasures as the true but little known story of the discovery of the efficacy of live bait by Genghis Khan's chef, an examination of the precarious and perhaps fanatical expertise required for ice fishing, and a consideration of the circumstances that can cause a deer to ride a bicycle.

Among additional topics explored are The Crouch Hop and Other Useful Outdoor Steps, The Sensuous Angler, and Psychic Powers for Outdoorsmen. Included, too, is The Hunter's Dictionary, an invaluable lexicon that helps the novice sportsman understand such arcane terminology as Ooooooeee-ah-ah-ah (If there's one thing I hate, it's putting on cold, wet pants in the morning) and Baff mast pime ig bead feas mid miff pife (That's the last time I try to eat peas in the dark with my hunting knife )

The author's appreciation of outdoor life began in his early boyhood, when he absorbed a wealth of improbable information imparted by the old woodsman Rancid Crabtree, who bathed only on leap years. Young McManus also enjoyed special adventures with his ill-remembered sidekick, Retch Sweeney, and another boon companion of days gone by, the loquacious family dog, Strange, whose exploits as a hunter were limited to assaulting stray chickens and on one memorable occasion a skunk.

McManus here follows up A Fine and Pleasant Misery with a collection of sketches that launches him into the front ranks of outdoor humorists.--Library Journal

In these tall tales, McManus and his buddies learn how not to net a fish, why you should never get your hair cut by someone who's mad at you, what to do when a deer wanders into camp but your sleeping bag has frozen shut, and how to avoid bird-dog flatulence.

Traveling the highways and byways of the Pacific Northwest, the delightful backcountry characters of Kerplunk! understand how a life of hunting and fishing -- and its inherent potential for misadventure -- can resonate with larger meaning. McManus's characters know exactly why it costs $500 to make a fly lure that retails for $2; why installing a boat trailer hookup can lead to divorce; and, most important, why you should always listen for the sound of your fishing line hitting the water -- because in life as it is in fishing, you don't know you're in the water until you hear the kerplunk!

These wry, curmudgeonly tales appeal to real outdoorsmen and the armchair variety alike. Often nostalgic, occasionally philosophical, and always funny, the stories in Kerplunk! reaffirm Patrick F. McManus's reputation as an American classic.

America's most gifted outdoor humorist (Detroit Free Press) regales readers with this collection of gut-busting, man vs. nature tales originally published in such magazines as Field & Stream and Outdoor Living.

Patrick F. McManus's hilarious and comic stories of camping and other nature-oriented activities reach ridiculous proportions in The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw. From teaching his stepfather the methods of madness behind farm work through his best friend's grandmother's fear of bears, McManus reveals that human behavior is even wilder than the wilderness.

Patrick F. McManus, the funniest guy in the Outdoor Life and Field & Stream gang...offers another bag of whimsy in the Great Outdoors* with The Grasshopper Trap.

In this collection of thirty zany stories, spoofing camping, fishing, and other outdoor recreational activities, McManus shares his hilarious wilderness misadventures. From facing an angry bear with an unloaded gun and the folly of running a boat while it's still on the trailer to not questioning the ingredients found in camp cookout cuisine and the best methods of catching grasshoppers, no one knows how to express Mother Nature's sense of humor like Patrick F. McManus.

It's enough to tickle the most rabid member of the National Rifle Association.--*Kirkus Reviews

Sheriff Tully is famous for his hunches--most recently, his suspicion that local retiree Orville Poulson has been murdered by his ranch caretaker, Ray Crockett, a sociopath with a criminal record. The only problem is that Tully has no evidence and no body to prove that a crime has been committed: supposedly, Orville is alive and well and cashing his Social Security checks from Spokane.

But before Tully can follow up on Orville's whereabouts, three unidentified young men are found dead of gusnhot wounds to the head, execution style, in a huckleberry patch on Scotchman Mountain. With the help of confident and beautiful FBI agent Angela Phelps, Tully tries to connect the dots between Poulson's disappearance, the sudden spate of murders occurring in Blight County, and a big white pickup truck with dual tires wreaking havoc in the area. But when his few potential leads prove either impossible to track down or unexpectedly deceased, Tully must follow his instincts to piece together the puzzle of who is doing the killing, and why. His suspicions lead him straight into a haunted swamp, along with Agent Phelps, his womanizing ex-sheriff father, Pap, expert tracker and good friend Dave, and mountain man Poke.

A twisty case packed with murder and mystery, The Huckleberry Murders is the most entertaining tale yet in this beloved series.

More humerous observations and insights into the agonies and ecstacies of hunting, fishing, and camping by the author of They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?and other celebrations of life in the wild.

America's favorite outdoor humorist is back with an outrageously fresh collection of stories. He introduces a variety of friends old and new, and takes readers to many exotic locales outdoors and indoors.

Patrick McManus believes that life's eternal truths exist solely for the purpose of being overturned and proved incorrect. In McManus's world, nothing is what it should be. All steaks should be chicken-fried, strong coffee is drunk by the light of a campfire, and fishing trips consist of men acting like boys and boys behaving like the small animals we've always assumed they were.

The beloved humorist and bestselling author returns with his most riotous collection of essays to date

Starting with his trademark outdoorsman's wit, Patrick F. McManus's newest collection ponders the strange allure of the RV, the existential implications of being lost, the baffling tendency of animals to outsmart those who wish to hunt them, and the singular pleasure of doubling the size of every fish one doesn't actually catch.

Combining the curmudgeonly voice of Dave Barry and the innocent tone of Garrison Keillor, McManus brilliantly captures the everyday absurdities that comprise our existence. Alongside his humor, McManus's inimitable vision consistently evokes a childlike wonder at the natural world. Even if we are running low on food, the compass is broken, and we are fairly certain we have just spotted a family of Sasquatches frolicking in the treetops, The Bear in the Attic makes the outdoors seem wildly irresistible.

Sheriff Bo Tully is the kind of western lawman who's as good with the ladies as he is with his guns, and he never lets a death threat get in the way of a good barbecue. He's a man with a sense of humor, which comes in handy when trying to establish order in Blight County.

In this latest tale, Tully pursues a seventy-five-year-old missing persons case in which a pair of gold miners (a two-man drilling team known as a double-jack) mysteriously disappeared just as they hit the mother lode in a remote part of Blight County. Meanwhile, a second, more threatening case looms large. After serving only two months of a life sentence, a mentally unstable murderer named Kincaid--a nasty piece of work if there ever was one--manages to escape prison, setting his sights on killing the man who put him behind bars: one Sheriff Bo Tully. In an effort to lead his would-be killer into the open, and also to do a little gold prospecting and fishing while he's at it, Tully heads north with his ex-sheriff father, Pap, and his friend and expert tracker, Dave.
As the two cases play themselves out, Sheriff Tully finds himself hunting down one murderer who's probably long dead, and being hunted by another who's very much alive. A fast-moving tale of murder, mayhem, and mining, The Double-Jack Murders is Patrick F. McManus's darkest, most entertaining mystery yet.

When the call comes in that Mike Wilson, the unlikable owner of West Branch Lodge, has gone missing, Sheriff Tully is delighted. This is an excellent opportunity for Tully, his tracker pal Dave, and his retired sheriff father, Pap, to enjoy a few evenings of hot tubs and single-malt scotch at the luxurious lodge while working the case. However, visions of R & R vanish in a flash on the drive up, when Tully and Pap suddenly realize an avalanche is thundering down the mountain, straight toward them.

Tully manages to outrun the crush of snow, but the road behind is blocked, and there's no telling for how long. Tully's stranded at the lodge with a motley group of vacationers and locals: a sassy co-ed, a group of rambunctious fraternity boys, a shadowy group of what looks like ex-cons, the missing owner's wife, a suspiciously good-looking bartender, and worst (or perhaps best) of all, Tully's old flame, who shows up with her dogsled and naughty intentions.

Both vacationers and locals start to look like suspects when Tully discovers startling evidence proving that the avalanche was no accident of nature. But why would anybody want him dead? And then the missing persons case turns into a murder case when Mike Wilson's body turns up in the river a couple of days later. But who killed him, and how? Furthermore, when another murder in Blight City is reported that week, the only suspect who makes sense...is the dead guy, Mike Wilson. But how could that have happened? It's up to Tully to figure it all out in this comic romp through the wilds of Blight County, from bestselling author Patrick McManus.

Patrick McManus, the bestselling author of such hilarious books as A Fine and Pleasant Misery and Never Sniff a Gift Fish, now offers readers solid thoughts on the qualities that define leadership, beginning with the need to be tall, and much more, in this outrageous collection of short pieces that reveals his tortuous trip along the writer's path.

With a style that brings to mind Mark Twain, Art Buchwald, and Garrison Keillor (People), Patrick F. McManus delivers another stellar collection of witty cautionary tales of the great outdoors in The Good Samaritan Strikes Again.

Gathering together twenty-four of his hilarious essays--originally published in such magazines as Outdoor Life--this volume features not only McManus's follies with Mother Nature, but those of human nature as he shares such funny moments of his life as his first kiss, his public relations career, his less than helpful attempt to be a good Samaritan to an injured motorist, and so much more.

The Horse in My Garage and Other Stories is a hilarious addition to Patrick F. McManus's library of humor. He weighs in on his childhood, everyday life, and outdoor tales. His typical exaggerated commentary will elicit a belly laugh, whether you've been reading his tales for years or are new to his special blend of classic American humor.

Read about the antics of Patrick's friends Rancid Crabtree and Retch Sweeney in such stories as Shaping Up for the Hunt and Bear Hunters. McManus plays off the recent obsession with hoarders in his surprising story The Lady Who Kept Things. In the titular story, meet Patrick's horse, Huckleberry, and enjoy the experience of all the problems that come along with owning your own horse--or keeping him in the garage.

Other great stories include:

• Catch-And-Eaters, about the importance of a forked stick when fishing
• $7,000 TV Historical Extravaganza, a look at one director's loose interpretation of historical accuracy and political correctness
• A Lake Too Far, concerning the woes of Patrick and his wife, Bun, on a fateful birding trip in Australia
• Chicken Chronicles, which involves Patrick's memory of wandering around naked in the chicken yard when guests came to call

Along the way, Tully has to deal with the likes of a shadowy local named Gridley Shanks, who seems to have a spider web of connections throughout town; two out-of-town elk hunters who don't know much about elk hunting, but are tied to the murder; an elderly couple who end up dead while caring for a rundown mansion and property out of town; a sassy assistant named Daisy; an attractive, tough FBI agent named Angie, who suddenly finds herself involved in her first murder investigation; and a host of other characters. There's also the case of missing loot, which no one can find--at least, until Tully puts his mind to it.

Will Tully get his man (or men) this time? Does the Blight Way ever fail? Read another page-turning mystery turned misadventure by bestselling author and beloved humorist, Patrick F. McManus.

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