In this, his eighth and funniest collection, we meet many Pat McManuses—most unknown to man or beast. The first is Pat the PR executive (his firm specializes in stretching a truth or two), whose chief responsibility is "to make two half-truths out of a whole truth." Pat gets so stressed out at work that his therapist persuades him to invent a fantasy farm to relieve the pressure. All is well until farming begins to take its toll — the dream-time chores are just too hard for Pat. Besides, PR pays well and there's no heavy lifting. Another Pat is a Good Samaritan who knows enough about emergencies to take his time getting to them ("who knows, this could allow some take-charge guy time to show up").

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When Pat's first kiss turns into a scientific experiment instead of another example of adolescent lust, we have the hilarious "Blundered Buss." It should come as no surprise that the author has developed a new technique for sighting-in a rifle: The McManus Method, which is based on exhaustive research. "Well, not exactly exhaustive," Pat admits, "but it certainly was tiring." A facetious send-up of Ernest Hemingway begins: "The Old Man and I had fished fourteen days in a row without taking a big fish. I was not yet an old man, but I was beginning to feel like one. The Old Man also felt like an old man, which was okay, because he was one. He was ninety-two years old. It is wonderful to feel anything when you're ninety-two years old."

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"Now You See Me, Now You Don't" offers Pat's theory on the origins of animal camouflage: "Some bright little red bugs find themselves on a sandy desert. They take a look at their surroundings and say, 'Kee-ripes! We stand out like Yasir Arafat at a bar mitzvah! We gotta do something fast!" So they change to the color of sand, except for a few conceited individuals who remain bright red and get eaten by sparrows."

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"The Worry Box" rounds out the collection: When one worry disappears, there's always another to replace it. It seems the box is always full.

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The legendary McManus voice is vigorous, providing laughter in the most unlikely places. Irresistible.