Any Patrick F. McManus fans here.

I find his books to be laugh out loud funny. Hear similar stories about hard times from older relatives. Just good funny stuff. Anybody else like him.

I've got all of his books! Rancid Crabtree is exactly like the old man that taught me how to trap, reload, and blow my nose without a hankie.

He did a great job of teaching me everything my mother wouldn't allow my father to teach me.

Oh yeah....Never Sniff a Gift Fish. Great stuff.

Rancid Crabtree...I gotta respect that guy.

Theory and Application of Old Men should be required reading.

"Ah recall a time when a bobcat got loose in Poke Martins plane. Funniest thing ah ever seen. Old Poke, he was running supplies into Pat Doyles camp, up Terrible Creek. Terrible Creek, that where ah cought a 20 # char on a pience of bacon rind..."

Here is to P. MacManus.

Tenner shoes was one of my favorites!

Yep I like him alot.

Reading him offand on for ~25 years. He used to have his stories in the back of Outdoor Life.

Last year my wife was telling me about this book on tape she got from the library for long trips. She was telling me how funny and good it was and that I had to listen to it. She just picked it up on a whim and never heard of the author. Well we were driving along when she pops it in. I said that is was Pat McManus to her utter amazement. I think she figured I just read high toned novels and gun magazines. Fooled her on both counts. She didn't realize I had a few of his books in my meagher library to which I offered her to read.

Originally Posted by cmg

Theory and Application of Old Men should be required reading.

"Ah recall a time when a bobcat got loose in Poke Martins plane. Funniest thing ah ever seen. Old Poke, he was running supplies into Pat Doyles camp, up Terrible Creek. Terrible Creek, that where ah cought a 20 # char on a pience of bacon rind..."

Here is to P. MacManus.

Carl,

Either you have spent even more time in North America than I am aware of, or your sporting education in Germany was unusually complete!

I discovered Patrick F. McManus when I was a teenager and remember laughing out loud at several of his tales.

The story where he shot a deer then tied the "dead" deer on his bicycle (with its hooves lashed to the bike pedals) to take home was great!

This one is perhaps my favorite book of his, but they are all great:

[Linked Image]

And I just noticed you can get a used copy from Amazon for under 5 bucks (plus shipping) HERE or for 7 bucks from an Amazon affiliate who will ship internationally (same page).

John

I really enjoy the story telling of Pat McManus.

Love his stories. Which is my favorite? My knee-jerk response would be "The last one I read," but off the top of my head the last time I read "The Grasshopper Trap" it brought me to tears, I laughed so hard.

Yeah, classic stuff. Reminds me of my childhood.

A couple years ago I met Rancid...and his twin. We were hunting and had just walked out of the forest onto a single track road. We hadn't any more started walking along it when an old pickup came by and stopped. The driver and his passenger both had long gray hair, wire rim glasses, and were probably in their 70's. They had an old mangy dog in the back. They stopped and rolled down the window to talk. WHOOOEEEE! The fumes just rolled out the window and hit us like a 30-06. It would gag a maggot. The last time either of them had seen a bath tub was just after the Great War.
Then they started talking. They were straight out of McManus.

Dad would read his stories to us when Field and Stream?? came to the house, or he tried to read them to us as he kept breaking up with laughter.

Originally Posted by shreck

Dad would read his stories to us when Field and Stream?? came to the house, or he tried to read them to us as he kept breaking up with laughter.

I hope your Dad is still with us!

However, if not, him cracking up as he tried to read McManus would be a great memory that you could relive any time you wanted.

If fact, a memory of a father cracking up with laughter would be a great way to remember any father!

John

Originally Posted by jpb

Originally Posted by cmg

Here is to P. MacManus.

I discovered Patrick F. McManus when I was a teenager and remember laughing out loud at several of his tales.

This one is perhaps my favorite book of his, but they are all great:

[Linked Image]

John

I was given this book as a high school graduation present from a neighbor. I have since bought most of his others. Super Funny stuff!

Oh Lord, yes! I grew in the area where he did, went to the U of Idaho, and did just about as many dumb things to boot while growing up. The whole series of books had me laughing out loud. Simple life, simple people, and making easy of hard times, what a trip down memory lane.

Good stuff for sure.
Enjoy his as much as capstick and more than gierach.

Originally Posted by Rock Chuck

A couple years ago I met Rancid...and his twin. We were hunting and had just walked out of the forest onto a single track road. We hadn't any more started walking along it when an old pickup came by and stopped. The driver and his passenger both had long gray hair, wire rim glasses, and were probably in their 70's. They had an old mangy dog in the back. They stopped and rolled down the window to talk. WHOOOEEEE! The fumes just rolled out the window and hit us like a 30-06. It would gag a maggot. The last time either of them had seen a bath tub was just after the Great War.
Then they started talking. They were straight out of McManus.

Old fellas like those ones do not bathe as they would wash off their "protective layer"...grin...Required reading (for young men soon to marry) is Pat's "Gunrunning"...

There is no outdoor humorist that will ever come close to McManus's ability to keep me laughing like an idiot while my wife wonders what the hell she married.

If you dont dig his style, you've either never spent any time outdoors, or your dead.

Jeezus, Ive got a [bleep] eating grin just thinkin bout it!

i cryed thur all of his books and f&s/OD-life days, and have a "signed copy of "the nite the bear ate gumba....my spellins off by my heart is rite.

any one hear see his live "one man" show? he had a fellow tell the tails on stage ..seen him in fairbanks...got to better than 10 years ago.

http://www.mcmanusplays.com/ i found this!! ...if this guys comes to your town go see him!! u lol twice to the same old stories

Originally Posted by atvalaska

http://www.mcmanusplays.com/ i found this!! ...if this guys comes to your town go see him!! u lol twice to the same old stories

wish woulda known bout that 3 months ago, i woulda driven over to Minot to check it out.....

That was the first story of his that I read, it's always been one of my favorites.

Patrick's first humorous story, "I'll Never Forget Old 5789-A" appeared in Field & Stream in 1968. Does anyone have a copy of that magazine, and could you tell me what month it was published?

Have you guys read any of Patrick's mystery novels, about Sheriff Bo Tully? They take place in his fictitious Blight County, Idaho and have some of the characters from his short stories. It's cool to see him taking on the longer novel format.

I read a few of his books years ago.. Pretty funny..
As I remember one title was , they shoot canoes ...

I started reading his stuff in the 70s, when I was the young kid in the stories. Now I fear I'm one of the old guys.

The mystery novels are quite good, the longer format gives him more room to spin his magic.

Don't piss off Bo Tully, it makes his arm go numb. And Paps picking locks with a 12 gauge..........

One day an older gent friend handed me "They Shoot Canoes...Don't They?" and said take this here and read it and pass it on.
LMAO all the way through it.

There was a line in one of his stories about growing up and raising animals for food that reminded me of growing up. Something about having a personal relationship with your food before eating it. Yes, that was my childhood. 'tis a far cry from today's youth that mostly think meat comes from the grocery store without any death or mess involved.

One of the great writers. I read his stories in the gun mags and some of his books. As others have said, he brings back my childhood memories.

Love his writings. Loved Rancid Crabtree. Good books.

dunno if this was posted already, i just saw the below posted on his website, looks like they are closing shop in a few days....have enjoyed his stories for a long time.

Quote

It's the end of an era. When January 2015 rolls around, PatrickFMcManus.com and McManus Books are fini. It makes me sad as I post the last blogs and last pictures. We will all miss the kind emails and hilarious stories from Dad's faithful readers. You are quite an amazing bunch! No wonder you identify with Dad's stories--you've all been there!

McManus Store is selling out all its inventory for our closing Dec. 31. Bun just found a stack of old, but brand new, story collection paperbacks, which I will be posting immediately. Once something is gone, we won't be reordering it. Circles in the Snow, Pat's latest and last Bo Tully mystery, has been very popular. We are down to the last 25, so order yours soon if you don't have it. We will try to stay stocked up on our beloved Rancid hats until the very end if you need an idea for a last minute Christmas gift. The Post Office guarantees they will get our orders anywhere in the US by Christmas if we ship by Dec. 20, so please get all Christmas orders to us no later than Dec. 19.

Heres a link. http://www.patrickfmcmanus.com/Store.html