Patrick F. McManus (born August 24, 1933) is an American outdoor humor writer. A humor columnist for Outdoor Life and other magazines, his columns have been collected in several books, beginning with A Fine and Pleasant Misery (1978) up through The Bear in the Attic (2002).
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Biography
McManus was born and raised in Sandpoint, Idaho. His father died when he was six and although his mother later remarried, for the most part he was raised by his mother, grandmother, and older sister. After high school, McManus worked construction and other such jobs until he had saved enough money to attend Washington State College, now Washington State University. He is married to Darlene McManus (a fictionalized version of whom appears in his stories under the name "Bun") and has four daughters.
Works
McManus writes mostly about his outdoor adventures from his childhood with semi-fictional characters such as his old woodsman mentor Rancid Crabtree, his childhood friends "Crazy" Eddie Muldoon and Retch Sweeney, and his dog Strange. The stories' humor is mostly based on elaborate exaggerations of his surreal adventures into the outdoors. McManus's writing is characterized by a dry wit that has drawn comparisons to Mark Twain and Robert Benchley. As of 2007, his most recent work is Avalanche, the second in a series of mystery novels starring the character Sherrif Bo Tully. Other departures from his column-collections include Kid Camping From Aaaaii! To Zip (1979, an alphabetized, and mostly serious, listing of useful tips and concepts for beginning campers); Whatchagot Stew (1989, both a cookbook and a less-fictionalized memoir of his childhood); and The Deer On A Bicycle (2000, a discussion of the art of humor writing.) Some of his stories have been adapted as stage-plays.
Bibliography
- A Fine And Pleasant Misery (1978)
- Kid Camping From Aaaaii! To Zip (1979)
- They Shoot Canoes, Don't They? (1981)
- Never Sniff A Gift Fish (1983)
- The Grasshopper Trap (1985)
- Rubber Legs And White Tail-Hairs (1987)
- The Night The Bear Ate Goombaw (1989)
- Whatchagot Stew (1989), co-written with Patricia McManus Gass
- Real Ponies Don't Go Oink! (1991)
- The Good Samaritan Strikes Again (1992)
- How I Got This Way (1994)
- Never Cry "Arp!" And Other Great Adventures (1996)
- Into The Twilight, Endlessly Grousing (1997)
- The Deer On A Bicycle (2000)
- The Bear In The Attic (2002)
- The Blight Way: A Sheriff Bo Tully Mystery (2006)
- Avalanche: A Sheriff Bo Tully Mystery (2007)
- Kerplunk!: Stories (2007)
