McManus, columnist for Outdoor Life and author of Rubber Legs and White Tail-Hairs (Holt, 1987), has come out with a new collection of countrified, down-home stories that are sure to amuse more than just lovers of the great outdoors. Granted, many of these stories are related in some way to McManus's areas of ``expertise,'' hunting, fishing, and camping, but there are a few that touch on psychology (``Boating Disorders,'' in which the writer helps people whose life has become dominated by their boat) and consumerism (``Garage-Sale Hype,'' in which the author relates how to get a really good bargain on fishing equipment). His narrative is peopled with such oddly named characters as Rancid Crabtree; Erful, Retch, and Verman Sweeney; Valvoleen Grooper; and others. Libraries that had a good following for McManus's earlier books will want this one, too.-- Carol Spielman Lezak, General Learning Corp., Northbrook, Ill. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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. Author tour. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved