Here is another serving of Pat McManus's wonderfully witty tales and discourses on a sportsman's life, in the same hilarious vein that won him recognition as "the Robert Benchley of the outdoors" for his first collection, A Fine and Pleasant Misery. With wry tongue-in-cheek, McManus celebrates the hidden pleasures, unappreciated lore, and opportunities for disaster in the recreations of camping, hunting, and fishing. Here we have the true if rather obscure history of fishing with live bait ("All You Ever Wanted to Know about Live Bait but Were Afraid to Ask"); the precarious expertise of ice fishing ("Cold Fish"); the trauma for the adolescent would-be hunter of having to wear glasses ("The Heartbreak of Astigmatism"); the secret life of the fly fisherman ("The Sensual Angler"); supernatural phenomena in the woods ("Psychic Powers for Outdoorsmen"); and much more. And again we meet those incorrigible McManus regulars: the old woodsman Rancid Crabtree; McManus's ill-remembered sidekick from childhood, Retch Sweeney; and the McManuses' loquacious dog, Strange. 

 

For registered McManus fans as well as new readers, here is a book every bit as sparkling and hilarious as McManus's first popular book.