[flynlr]

has anyone here ever hunted with this guy and if so lived to tell about it.

after reading all his books I am amazed even He is alive.

[hacksaw]

I still like going back and reading his old stuff. This guy totally shatters me!

[ZeSpectre]

Ah, "Backyard Safari" and "Care and feeding of an old man".

Such characters as "Retch Sweeny" and "Rancid Crabtree"

CLASSIC STUFF!

(one of my all time favorite books "A fine and pleasant misery" (http://www.mcmanusbooks.com/books/pleasent_misery/pleasent_misery.html))

[Zip7]

I me my best friend (who is still my best friend today, even though he's a total ass) in the eighth grade.

The thing that we had in common right off the bat was that we both loved to read Patrick F McManus stories in Field & Stream...

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I don't know who that is (I shall have to get some of the books), but that insane Ted Barta guy (on tee vee) really cracks me up. He walks the walk, though.

[ZeSpectre]

PremiumSauces,
You have GOT to read some of his stuff. If you have any "outdoorsman" experience under your belt, and have a sense of humor, you will love it.

Where else would you get a line like...
We discovered he was a magician and could make an entire group of experienced hunters vanish for the entire day with the phrase "the car is just over that hill there"
(Pat McManus on the fine art of getting lost)

(P.S. do you mean Tred Barta?)

[Savage Shooter]

The man is hilarious Rancid crabtree is probably my favorite only surpassed by the trout fishing with dynamite.:D I have got to get some of his books.

[koja48]

Rancid Crabtree was my uncle . . .

[matrem]

I've never hunted with that geezer.I would have guessed him too old to hunt when I first read of his antics..I think he was in his prime hunting shape at or about civil war era.One of my favorite hunting /fishing story tellers though,even if I do find myself feeling sorry for his wife,dogs, friends & most anybody else he had contact with.

[L8tor]

If you like Patrick McManus then you will sure like Alan Liere's books. He writes for all kinds of outdoor magazines.

I have had the fortune to have Alan as a hunting partner when I lived on the other side of the state.

Here is a clip I found on the internet. Let me know what you think of his books.


Patrick F. McManusPatrick F. McManus, internationally recognized humorist, book author and columnist for Outdoor Life magazine, has this to say in the foreword of Alan Liere's recent book on Alaska outdoor humor entitled, Bear Heads & Fish Tales.

"What's funny"? Nobody knows for sure, but I would venture to say that it's that tiny, gritty bit of truth that produces the pearl of laughter. I do not mean to imply that author Al Liere in any way resembles an oyster. The man is a funny writer, which is the best thing you can say about a humorist. I personally plan to buy a gross of Bear Heads & Fish Tales. If we have another Great Depression, people will need something to cheer them up, and I figure a copy of this book will be as good as gold in the marketplace." --Patrick McManus--

Bear Heads & Fish Tales is a collection of zany outdoor stories written by Alan Liere, Alaska's ambassador of mirth and humor to the funny bone. Learn the techniques for smoking fish, Alaska-style, by burning your neighbor's garage; what words to say to your oil pan while sleeping under your car; tips on preparing wilderness gourmet meals such as Chicken Noodle Salmon or Humpy Rainwater Soup; how to stuff a mature bull caribou into the cargo space of a Subaru hatchback and much more.

"This book is for anyone who has ever wielded a fishing rod, a shotgun, or a wiener stick,"says Liere. "It's for those who experience deflated air mattresses, rubber rafts, and egos--sometimes all on the same outing . Bear Heads & Fish Tales is for anyone who believes in that fine line between tragedy and comedy and knows with all their heart that maturity is highly overrated."

[ranger335v]

"(Pat McManus on the fine art of getting lost)"

Ditto. To get full value from Mr. McManus stories requires that you have been a small town or country kid at some point and have a history of such antics as he recounts. He can be amusing to big city boys and sissies too, but to red-blooded, he-man type kids he is hillarious!

His thouhtful account of being lost and spontaneous "full bore linear panic" and "modified ricochet panic" can ONLY be appreciated by someone who was truly lost as a kid, at least once.

Check your library for a copy of his "A Fine and Pleasant Misery" to read that short story. It took me much longer than normal to read, I can't maintain focus on written words when my body is in rolling convulsions of laughter. Memories!

[JohnnyOrygun]

I love "The Night Bear Ate Goombaw"!! I think I spelled it right... I started buying his books during one summer in Montana, my parents thought I was crazy.. we would be driving along and all of a sudden I would burst out laughing (the kind where you cry, its so funny) I think I have all of his books, I dig them out and reread them every once in a while... now my wife and kids think I am crazy too. ranger335v is exactly right, have to have some small town/country kid time to fully understand McManus.

I would read some of the stories to my Dad and he would start laughing and say something along the lines that him and one of his brothers had tried the same thing when they were kids. McManus is the greatest outdoor humor writer, even now when I am in a bookstore I look and see if he has any new books.

A Fine and Pleasant Misery
Real Ponies don't go Oink!
Never Sniff a gift fish.
The bear in the Attic

I love them all... now I have to get out those old books and start reading them again... Thanks for reminding me its been a while since I read them!:D

[Quoheleth]

I *am* McManus.

Well...my hunting buddies think so, anyway.

He has a couple of mystery novels out now, too - the Sherriff Bo Tulley mysteries. While not quite as side-splitting as his short stories, they are good reads.

I've woken my wife up many times by reading McManus in bed, after she's fallen asleep. Between the snorting (trying to silence a laugh), shaking the bed (by trying to silence the deep, belly laugh), and finally giving in to the laughter I've been warned to not read him after 10pm in bed anymore.

Warning: Do NOT listen to his books on tape while driving in big city traffic. A very dangerous combination.

Gotta run...
Q

[jjk308]

Funniest Mcmanus story ever was the one about him helping his grandma make blood sausage. She was standing on the kitchen table filling the skins through a funnel, with a butcher knife in hand to cut the links.

Of course it all burst, covering her with blood, just as her prospective boyfriend walked in.....

[cbm1948]

A Fine and Pleasant Misery
Real Ponies don't go Oink!
Never Sniff a gift fish.
The bear in the Attic
While all of these are classics, as most of his stories are. The night the bear ate Goomba is my personal favorite. I start laughing just thinking about it.

Clint

[TehK1w1]

I was first exposed to his wit at the tender age of 9, when my father left a copy of "They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?" out where I would notice it. Ever since then I have been shamelessly addicted to his stories.

[Dookie]

I also recommend his cookbook, some great recipes with his usual wit.

When he performed his show I got it autographed.

[koja48]

And I am proud to say that I have mastered the "crouch-hop."

[PawDaddy]

His stories are the best part of the Outdoor Life magazine!

[deanadell]

The stories he tells about his dog crack me up every time I read them.....

[jdavidboyd]

I used to pace at the mailbox, waiting for the latest copy of Field & Stream to show up, so I could get my fix.

You can imagine my disappointment when, sometimes, he wouldn't have an article in the latest issue.

[Jim Watson]

I can handle his columns about one a month, a book full would wear thin.

But I really like his mysteries, The Blight Way and Avalanche, featuring Sherrif Bo Tully of Blight County.

[Coyote3855]

Met him once years ago at a book signing in Cheyenne. Very nice guy. Love his stuff.

[jasonguerard]

I grew up reading his books.
They shoot canoes was a favorite.
Somewhere was a story about cleaning bluegills for hours that is so true.(OK not hunting related, unless you shoot fish, hmmmm)
If you grew up in the country he will really come to life.