Helpful Score: 1
From Amazon:
McManus ( The Grasshopper Trap ) has been making outdoorsmen laugh for some time now, but his new collection of writing passes a sterner test. Here he can amuse someone who's never even baited a hook. McManus's stories generally involve either the comic misadventures of life in the wild ("A Road Less Travelled By"; "Gunkholing"; "Water Spirits") or first-person coming-of-age stories set in rural America ("The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw"; "Scritch's Creek"). His comic voice, resonating with a surprising depth of wit, is expressed in a pleasant, quirky prose style--but shows a tendency to get cute. Characters cry "Owww!" and "Arrrhhhh" and "Arp!" incessantly and excessively, and the author indulges a fondness for italic type: "I . . . gasp . . . forgot my billfold. It's . . . pant . . . in my tackle box. Get it for me . . . choke . . . will you?" This talented writer doesn't need to poke readers in the ribs to let them in on the joke.
McManus ( The Grasshopper Trap ) has been making outdoorsmen laugh for some time now, but his new collection of writing passes a sterner test. Here he can amuse someone who's never even baited a hook. McManus's stories generally involve either the comic misadventures of life in the wild ("A Road Less Travelled By"; "Gunkholing"; "Water Spirits") or first-person coming-of-age stories set in rural America ("The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw"; "Scritch's Creek"). His comic voice, resonating with a surprising depth of wit, is expressed in a pleasant, quirky prose style--but shows a tendency to get cute. Characters cry "Owww!" and "Arrrhhhh" and "Arp!" incessantly and excessively, and the author indulges a fondness for italic type: "I . . . gasp . . . forgot my billfold. It's . . . pant . . . in my tackle box. Get it for me . . . choke . . . will you?" This talented writer doesn't need to poke readers in the ribs to let them in on the joke.
Helpful Score: 1
lord, lord, lord. this is some funny stuff! just sit back and enjoy yourself. very good book!
Helpful Score: 1
Patrick McManus is the king of outdoor humor. His tales with crazy Eddie Muldoon and Retch Sweeney May not be sophisticated enough for you high-brow types but for us good ol' country boys they are always good for a laugh.