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May I offer a hot tip on book reviews, take a couple of seconds and peck out a few sentences on what the book is actually about and why "every high schooler in America" should read it, or not. Doesn't have to get an "A" as a 6th grade book report, but something...
 
neffa3 said:
May I offer a hot tip on book reviews, take a couple of seconds and peck out a few sentences on what the book is actually about and why "every high schooler in America" should read it, or not. Doesn't have to get an "A" as a 6th grade book report, but something...
Click to expand...
Although having viewed the movie many years ago, I finally bulled my way thru "Notion", but never got the Jaeckel drowning scene out of my head. It's a masterful work of dreadful circumstance, wordsmanship imagery, and character development. Ben Johnson's supporting actor work in the Last Picture Show won the supporting actor award that year but it was Richard Jaeckel's career defining role.

The novel is among the head and shoulders above category, wish I'd discovered it first.
 
Just started Playing for Pizza by John Grisham after reading Sooley Part of the reason was i was at Thanksgiving with some of my BIL's Family. His sister's boyfriend had played football in Europe and was among the group Grisham interviewed for his research on the book.
 
2rocky said:
Just started Playing for Pizza by John Grisham after reading Sooley Part of the reason was i was at Thanksgiving with some of my BIL's Family. His sister's boyfriend had played football in Europe and was among the group Grisham interviewed for his research on the book.
Click to expand...
Still need to finish Sooley...got bogged down I guess.
 
2rocky said:
Just started Playing for Pizza by John Grisham after reading Sooley Part of the reason was i was at Thanksgiving with some of my BIL's Family. His sister's boyfriend had played football in Europe and was among the group Grisham interviewed for his research on the book.
Click to expand...
It's been a long time, but I remember liking "Playing For Pizza."
 
I've recommended this series of short stories in other threads but will add them here. Despite the title, they're a great collection of stories about a variety of hunting and fishing Wisconsin, chasing ducks, deer, and grouse; fishing trout streams; general shenanigans and the camaraderie between old timers and new up and comers in the outdoors. Nice, short reads with plenty of excellent prose and humor, perfect for settling down in the evening. Gordon MacQuarrie's writing is often on par with Hemingway, in my opinion. You can tell from the condition of these dust covers I return to them again and again.

20220823_093826.jpg


From "In the Quest of Lukewarm Beer"....MacQuarrie is chiding his mentor Mr. President for not being a purist dry-fly fisherman:

MacQuarrie starts it off:

"You're actually going to fish this low, clear water with that [rod and reel] outfit?"

"Yep, I'm goin' right down that path, through them alders, down the steep bank...I'll wade in about to my stomach and lean back agin' the water...after that it's dunk, dunk, dunk again...and by and by something's goin' to take-a-holt."...Mr. President confirmed.

"Idle banter--mere idle banter," I replied. "And I'll stake my reputation on it."

"Your reputation?" The woods rang with his laughter. "Shucks, man, you ain't go no reputation. You're a fisherman."

"All right, I ain't. But I've got a bottle of beer in the back seat of the car....It's a bet, and the pay-off is on trout"

"I'm off in a burst of derisive laughter," cried Mr. President, and the last I saw of him he was clomping into the brush in his waders in high glee.
 
neffa3 said:
May I offer a hot tip on book reviews, take a couple of seconds and peck out a few sentences on what the book is actually about and why "every high schooler in America" should read it, or not. Doesn't have to get an "A" as a 6th grade book report, but something...
Click to expand...
X2
 
2rocky said:
Just started Playing for Pizza by John Grisham after reading Sooley Part of the reason was i was at Thanksgiving with some of my BIL's Family. His sister's boyfriend had played football in Europe and was among the group Grisham interviewed for his research on the book.
Click to expand...

I remember that book making me really hungry for Italian food...
 
Birdbander said:
Just finished Lost in the Wild
Starting The Twenty-Ninth DayView attachment 235115View attachment 235116
I'm on a wilderness survival story kick apparently.
Click to expand...
Lost in the Wild is an account of two separate individuals, different years, who become lost in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Minnesota. It's interesting to take note of their missteps and how quickly a person deteriorates.

The Twenty-Ninth Day is an account of a group of 6 young men on a 600 mile canoe trip from Canada's Northwest into Nunavut. On the 29th day one of them, the author, is attacked by a grizzly. It's difficult for me to grasp the enormity and emptiness of the tundra but would be a dream to see.
 
crock239 said:
I've recommended this series of short stories in other threads but will add them here. Despite the title, they're a great collection of stories about a variety of hunting and fishing Wisconsin, chasing ducks, deer, and grouse; fishing trout streams; general shenanigans and the camaraderie between old timers and new up and comers in the outdoors. Nice, short reads with plenty of excellent prose and humor, perfect for settling down in the evening. Gordon MacQuarrie's writing is often on par with Hemingway, in my opinion. You can tell from the condition of these dust covers I return to them again and again.

View attachment 235464


From "In the Quest of Lukewarm Beer"....MacQuarrie is chiding his mentor Mr. President for not being a purist dry-fly fisherman:

MacQuarrie starts it off:

"You're actually going to fish this low, clear water with that [rod and reel] outfit?"

"Yep, I'm goin' right down that path, through them alders, down the steep bank...I'll wade in about to my stomach and lean back agin' the water...after that it's dunk, dunk, dunk again...and by and by something's goin' to take-a-holt."...Mr. President confirmed.

"Idle banter--mere idle banter," I replied. "And I'll stake my reputation on it."

"Your reputation?" The woods rang with his laughter. "Shucks, man, you ain't go no reputation. You're a fisherman."

"All right, I ain't. But I've got a bottle of beer in the back seat of the car....It's a bet, and the pay-off is on trout"

"I'm off in a burst of derisive laughter," cried Mr. President, and the last I saw of him he was clomping into the brush in his waders in high glee.
Click to expand...
MacQuarrie is an all time favorite of mine as well. Some of the best outdoorsman writing I've come across. Like you, I return to his stories again and again.
 
TrumpkinTheDwarf said:
MacQuarrie is an all time favorite of mine as well. Some of the best outdoorsman writing I've come across. Like you, I return to his stories again and again.
Click to expand...
Several years ago I was invited by friends to their lake cabin in WI. By pure random chance it turned out it's on the same lake as MacQuarrie's cabin, so I've kayaked and water-skiied by the Hole in the Wall and picnicked at Pickle Barrel Point.

It was both neat and a little disturbing all at once. Prefer to remember it as he wrote it.

I did venture over to fly-fish the Brule for a few hrs on that same trip.

There's an interesting display of MacQuarrie memorabilia at a small museum in Barnes WI should you ever happen to be in the neighborhood.
 
A few of my next McMurtry installment's random reviews...not very inspiring.

2.0 out of 5 stars "Moving on" never does
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2022
Verified Purchase
Moving on, never does

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2015
Verified Purchase
It's a pity the lead character is such a selfish bitch as this could have been a much better book. Her endless crying and selfishness overshadows good writing and McMurtrys typically good character development. Patsy makes her own misery and it's well deserved. The usual texas flavor is here but leaves a b taste in my mouth. The story went on and on and on but never really lead anywhere.
 
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