Humour Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review"It's great stuff. ... We love it. ... Pollak has packed his book with not only amazing stories from his life (and there are many) but with enough celebrity anecdotes that this could almost be shelved with the quotation books. This is a very funny, real insider look at the 'business.'"—AmericasComedy.com"The book is full of funny or surprising stories (sometimes they're both) and plenty of self-deprecating humor. Pollak is a working actor, not a star, and his book is all the more likable for it. A genuinely entertaining movie memoir."—Booklist"Amusing ... Pollak is an engaging raconteur on the page. ... The most compelling passages concern the author's pre-fame days, including a legitimately riveting account of the teenage author, already in possession of a killer Peter Falk impersonation, hijacking a concert performance by Rich Little."—Kirkus Reviews"If he writes as well as he imitates me, you're in for a good time."—ALBERT BROOKS"Kevin Pollak is a mastermind of smart and funny. He attacks my funny bone the way a pit bull attacks my anklebone."—STEVE MARTIN"Kevin Pollak is one of those guys who shows up in every corner of the Business of Show—hit TV programs, award winning movies, radio shows of every kind, and benefit dinners for worthy charities. I once saw him in the parking lot at Cirque du Soleil and hollered, 'Hey! Kevin!' but he didn't hear me. Like you, I wonder how he's made it to the Big Time. This book brings that mystery to a close."—TOM HANKS"Kevin Pollak does it all: He does impressions, he acts, he writes, he produces. He continues to impress with his unique and unabashed ability to use his friends' names for his sole benefit. A true Renaissance man."—TOM CRUISE"Unfortunately, as a personal favor, I allowed Leo Tolstoy a blurb calling War and Peace 'my most fun read ever.' That being the case, I am unable to say the same about How I Slept My Way to the Middle. Would that I had reserved that comment for Kevin Pollak, where the appraisal would be so much more deserved."—JAMES L. BROOKS"Unfortunately, I did a little digging, and Kevin Pollak's book was ghostwritten by a factory full of Chinese children hopped up on n-hexane. In spite of, or perhaps because of, that, I hear it's a great read."—HARRY SHEARER"Actor, writer, storyteller, stand up, chat-show host, man about town, the most wonderful company, and now memoirist. Is there no end to his deranged ambition? Clearly not. I did two pictures with him and count myself lucky I got off with just two. A book I just couldn't wait to put down."—GABRIEL BYRNE

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Book SynopsisIn the spirit of This Is Spinal Tap and MTV's Headbangers Ball, this is the essential guide to becoming a big-haired, mesh-wearing, guitar-shredding '80s rock star.Trade ReviewHilarious and insightful. It breaks down absolutely everything that's awesome and ridiculous (and awesomely ridiculous) from the Golden Age of '80s Hair Metal." —Daniel Wallace, New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Characters

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Brilliant ... a book that should be given to all sourpusses because it is uproariously funny—laugh out loud until tears burn your eyes funny. ... The shrimpy kid who started out imitating Bill Cosby grew into a funny man with a yen for acting in movies, a journey his side-splitting memoir recounts in hilarious detail. ... There's so much dirt Pollak could have dished, but he keeps it positive with feel-good, riotous stories and fascinating Hollywood lore. Except for that one time Michael Clarke Duncan accused him of stealing his pocket cash.... —Shelf Awareness / Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend"It's great stuff. ... We love it. ... Pollak has packed his book with not only amazing stories from his life (and there are many) but with enough celebrity anecdotes that this could almost be shelved with the quotation books. This is a very funny, real insider look at the 'business.'"—AmericasComedy.com"Entertaining ... He includes detailed jabs at actors like Rip Torn and the late Michael Clarke Duncan—amusingly uncensored recaps of bad behavior from eccentrics. ... Pollak's juiciest tidbits are simply as-told-to tales: Walter Matthau recapping a profanity-laden tape Fred Astaire sent him, a detailed explanation of Johnny Carson's stand-up booking process, long transcriptions of jokes he heard his collaborators tell. ... Packed with plenty of good trivia."—A.V. Club"The book is full of funny or surprising stories (sometimes they're both) and plenty of self-deprecating humor. Pollak is a working actor, not a star, and his book is all the more likable for it. A genuinely entertaining movie memoir."—Booklist"Amusing ... Pollak is an engaging raconteur on the page. ... The most compelling passages concern the author's pre-fame days, including a legitimately riveting account of the teenage author, already in possession of a killer Peter Falk impersonation, hijacking a concert performance by Rich Little."—Kirkus Reviews"If he writes as well as he imitates me, you're in for a good time."—ALBERT BROOKS"Kevin Pollak is a mastermind of smart and funny. He attacks my funny bone the way a pit bull attacks my anklebone."—STEVE MARTIN"Kevin Pollak is one of those guys who shows up in every corner of the Business of Show—hit TV programs, award winning movies, radio shows of every kind, and benefit dinners for worthy charities. I once saw him in the parking lot at Cirque du Soleil and hollered, 'Hey! Kevin!' but he didn't hear me. Like you, I wonder how he's made it to the Big Time. This book brings that mystery to a close."—TOM HANKS"Kevin Pollak does it all: He does impressions, he acts, he writes, he produces. He continues to impress with his unique and unabashed ability to use his friends' names for his sole benefit. A true Renaissance man."—TOM CRUISE"Unfortunately, as a personal favor, I allowed Leo Tolstoy a blurb calling War and Peace 'my most fun read ever.' That being the case, I am unable to say the same about How I Slept My Way to the Middle. Would that I had reserved that comment for Kevin Pollak, where the appraisal would be so much more deserved."—JAMES L. BROOKS"Unfortunately, I did a little digging, and Kevin Pollak's book was ghostwritten by a factory full of Chinese children hopped up on n-hexane. In spite of, or perhaps because of, that, I hear it's a great read."—HARRY SHEARER"Actor, writer, storyteller, stand up, chat-show host, man about town, the most wonderful company, and now memoirist. Is there no end to his deranged ambition? Clearly not. I did two pictures with him and count myself lucky I got off with just two. A book I just couldn't wait to put down."—GABRIEL BYRNE

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Book SynopsisA hilariously entertaining bookâin words and illustrationsâabout the trials and tribulations of being a stay-at-home dad from New Yorker cartoonist Pat Byrnes.Trade Review"This very funny book is full of useful information that first-time dads are unlikely to find elsewhere. For example: Wear a cup."—Dave Barry, author of the New York Times bestseller Insane City"A hilarious, insightful look at the splendors (?) of parenting through the eyes of a stay-at-home dad. Spoiler alert: He survives!"—Roz Chast, New Yorker cartoonist"This entertaining and informative book is written by one of America's 158,000 stay-at-home dads. But it's just as relevant to the other 25 million dads. And moms. And grandparents. And on and on." —AJ Jacobs, New York Times best-selling author of The Year of Living Biblically, The Know-It-All, and Drop Dead Healthy "An absolutely delightful addition to the parenting canon from 'Captain Dad' (don't call him 'Mr. Mom') Pat Byrnes. Captain Dad illustrates (literally, with a dozen or so laugh-out-loud cartoons) the 'manly art' of stay-at-home parenting. He pulls it off with great wit, warmth, and some bombshell revelations. Never would I think of a jockstrap as part of the parenting uniform or that (outrageously!) dads don't have 'potty parity' in diaper changing rooms. And as a mom, this is a must-have book for sweet vindication alone. Captain Dad confirms that when it comes to fulltime parenting, wimps need not apply. Welcome, Captain Dad, to our tired, unwashed, unpaid, and undervalued army. Now, let's get you some yoga pants!" —Linda Keenan, author of Suburgatory "With a healthy serving of humor and loads of practical tips, Pat Byrnes walks us through the daring, difficult, and ultimately rewarding life of the stay-at-home dad. He celebrates the vocation through his hilarious and sometimes moving personal vignettes and gives first-time dads an almost unfair head start. If I were giving grades, I'd give Captain Dad an A." —Justin Roberts, Grammy-nominated children's musician "Just in time for Father's Day, Lyons Press will release Captain Dad: The Manly Art of Stay-at-Home Parenting by Pat Byrnes. . . . His stories and insights will likely resonate with many families." —Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisA cross between Nora Ephron and David Sedaris, longtime NPR commentator Marion Winik has a way of looking at life that's both relatable and remarkable. Her experience of being single in middle age will strike a chord as her willingness to share her personal humiliations leaves readers shocked, awed, and laughing out loud.Trade Review"Marion Winik has led an unusual and adventurous life, and she writes about it with style and wit. Her essays are mind-blowing—you can't stop reading them." —Jane Smiley"Highs in the Low Fifties is an intoxicating elixir born of an intellect that longs for chaos: Marion writing love letters to the Boston Strangler, Marion getting a hockey-puck nose job, Marion sitting out front of a bank at the wheel of a getaway car, and Marion heavily bandaged 'serving the beef bourguignon as the Frito Bandito on Percodan.' Romantics will gobble the intimate and maniacal sex and dating revelations while witless saps such as myself will eagerly turn one more page and say, my goodness, is this how women really think? No wonder I've been dumped so many times. Highs in the Low Fifties is like laughing gas at a car accident. Read it and weep, for if it doesn't break your heart, it'll crack you up." —Poe Ballantine, author of Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere"Highs in the Low Fifties hits the bull's eye—funny, sharp, poignant, wise. Sometimes, I think Marion Winik is simply selfless enough to live the life that most of us are too scared to try, then generously shares the results. Her latest memoir has her trademark candor and poetic cadences. But there's something new here, too—happiness. Rueful, cautious, but happiness nonetheless. It's like finding the Rough Planet Guide to Middle-Age."—Laura Lippman, author of And When She Was Good"Marion Winik works both sides of the street—light and dark, comedy and tragedy—and she does so with wit, verve, warmth, and hard-won wisdom. Reading this book was like sidling up to the best storyteller in your favorite bar." —Daniel Smith, bestselling author of Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety"Once again, Marion Winik brings us full throttle and no-holds-barred into her don't-try-this-at-home life. Where the Sleepy's truck runs over your mailbox, and that's the least of your day's whirlwind. Where your golf-bag-toting mother, Big Jane, may-she-rest-in-peace, drives a silver SUV and tells you, for heavens sake, look after the Calder when she dies. Where your dog Beau might just be the love of your life, but that doesn't mean everyone else doesn't vie for your heart, or you for theirs. Passionate, a bit rueful, filled with love, and above all--funny. If this is life in your fifties, bring it on." —Miriam Peskowitz, New York Times best-selling author of The Daring Book for Girls "Winik's new book, Highs in the Low Fifties: How I Stumbled Through the Joys of Single Living, follows her progress as a newly divorced middle-aged mother looking for love in the age of Match.com. It doesn't end with wedding bells and rice, but the book wouldn't be half as funny--or knowing--if it had." --Newsday "Fun, funny, touching and illuminating." --Kirkus". . . Winik, who has become a popular NPR commentator as well as a well-known author of self-reflective 'creative nonfiction,' infuses her writing with enough wit and poignancy to keep readers entertained. . . . it's hard not to keep on reading, in part because Winik is so thoroughly amusing about her travails." —The Austin American-Statesman"The protagonist of The Wonder Bread Summer could grow up to be Marion Winik, if she's lucky. Winik, who teaches at the University of Baltimore, had her share of wild times in the 1970s and 1980s and, as this memoir attests, survived with her sense of humor, and sense of dignity, intact. Widowed, divorced, and a single mom, she embarks on a search for a mate with predictably disastrous results as chapter titles like 'Match Dot Bomb' and 'The Five Guys You Meet In Hell' indicate. She hits bottom when making out with a former student, but musters a laugh in the process. And that's the genius--Winik confesses shortcomings with startling candor, while conjuring tears of laughter with sharp-witted observations and self-deprecating wit. By book's end, she reassesses her priorities and the tears keep coming, but you're no longer laughing." –Baltimore Magazine"At first glance, Marion Winik's Highs in the Low Fifties: How I Stumbled Through the Joys of Single Living may look like a baby boomer's post-widowhood, post-divorce self-help manual. But it's more of a 21st-century woman's survival guide for dating in the digital age, where life is an open Facebook and hearts are ignited or broken over terse texts and grammatically tortured e-mail.While Shakespeare famously wrote that love 'bears it out to the edge of doom,' Winik proves that the pursuit of love can be just as doom-bound. Highs in the Low Fifties begins after her second marriage fizzles out, and Winik moves to Roland Park to be closer to her job as a creative writing professor at the University of Baltimore.Determined to find love again, she sets off to date men of all educational and ethnic backgrounds. Among her first forays to doom's edge is the creation of a Match.com profile, through which Winik is rejected by men fearful they may become subjects of her writing. She, however, is just as discerning.'Even after ruling out the grammar abusers and other nonstarters, including the three people on Earth who don't enjoy walking on the beach, I found myself skittish,' writes Winik. 'Just being over fifty seemed to have reduced the pool to a puddle, and the scary part of it was composed of twenty-one year-old perverts.'Even so, Winik manages to find a few good men. She dates new romantic interests renamed as 'The Underwear Model Biologist' and 'The Pheromone King' (pseudonyms, of course). There are highs, such as the heady purchasing of pedicures and skinny jeans. But there are many more hilarious-in-hindsight lows: bawling while Leonard Cohen sings 'I'm Your Man' in concert, for instance.Winik enters therapy to understand her own complicated romantic history, which she believes began at age 9 after she wrote a letter to the man known as the Boston Strangler. But longtime fans of her work know Winik best for a more complex relationship –– her marriage to her first husband Tony, an openly gay man, whom she met at 24. He died of AIDS when their sons were toddlers.Since Tony entered her life, Winik has forged her career from moving true stories of love found and lost. Her early memoir First Comes Love tells the story of settling down with Tony, and her books that followed explore marriage, love, and childrearing with a frankness of sentiment detached from sentimentality readers have long come to expect from Winik.Love is neither courtly nor kind in her experience. Nor are broken hearts easy to heal. In Highs in the Low Fifties, she writes of Tony without a twinge of self-pity, 'I will spend the rest of my life missing him.'Post-50, she has discovered that love may still release every feel-good hormone that exists, but to give one's heart is always to risk its loss. Fortunately, Winik holds a black belt in making the best of bleak situations.'There are few things that happen in life you cannot laugh at. They are few and hopefully far between,' she writes at the conclusion of her dating year, when she chooses to spend yet another night watching Shakespeare in Love with her young daughter, a gift of that second marriage.That is, indeed, the great lesson of Shakespeare, and one Winik has affirmed consistently since the publication of her first collection of essays, Telling, in 1995. Highs in the Low Fifties is no exception." –The Frederick News-Post

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Book SynopsisThis book, filled with jaw-dropping photos as well as short, humorous profiles of the dogs and their owners, captures the wacky and wonderful spirit of the contest just in time for its 25th year.

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Book SynopsisOne of North America's best-known hockey writers examines the strangest rituals and superstitions within the NHL.Why did Wayne Gretzky start every pre-game warm-up by shooting wide to the right of the net (a rather funny habit, given that he scored more goals than anyone in the game's history)? Why do many hockey players seem to believe performance is tied directly to facial hair? Why does Geoff Sanderson use a different length stick for every period? And why did Petr Klima break his stick after every goal he scored? Hockey Superstitions, by one of Canada's best-known hockey writers, Andrew Podnieks, explores the fascinating and fun world of hockey superstitions: their origins, their quirks, and the mythology around them. Along the way, it gives us an original look into the minds of the players and coaches behind them.

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Book SynopsisIn two decades at Field & Stream, the nation’s biggest outdoor magazine, Bill Heavey has become America’s everyman outdoorsman. Why? Because he believes that enthusiasm trumps skill. When he forgets his hat on a freezing winter hunt, he improvises, cutting open the juice-stained plush golden retriever puppy his daughter left in the car and using it as headgear. Trying to impress a lady, he flips his canoe and loses everything in the boat. Heavey takes you along with him as he nearly freezes to death in the 30-below cold of Alaska, and he also survives a divorce, plans deer hunts around his duties as a single dad, and defies a back doctor who tells him his tree-stand days may be coming to an end. Throughout, he is alive to both the ridiculousness and poignancy of life.Collecting more than sixty of Heavey’s best stories from Field & Stream, the Washington Post, and the Washingtonian, this far-ranging and enlightening volume traceTrade Review"Bill Heavey is one of the best magazine writers in America. No, he doesn't work for the New Yorker. He writes for Field & Stream, the popular journal for hunters and fishermen. Outdoor writing has a dim reputation as a soapbox for braggarts who crow about hooking a monster marlin or bagging a 24-point deer. But Mr. Heavey will have none of that... Not since Jack London's stories has the stark danger of freezing lived so largely on the page... As the tongue-in-cheek title of Mr. Heavey's collection suggests, this isn't always or even usually a serious book. Think Erma Bombeck in camo gear, and you'll get the sensibility of many of these pieces."--Wall Street Journal "A reader doesn't have to hunt or fish to appreciate Heavey's gift for storytelling... The best essays, here, in fact, are heartbreakingly tender... This is a hard book to classify, and that's its biggest strength."--Christian Science Monitor, "10 excellent books you might have missed in 2014" "Remarkably engaging and often hilarious... Even those who have never baited a hook, assembled a tree stand, or sat in a duck blind will quickly find themselves drawn into Heavey's world with colorful--and occasionally dangerous--accounts of outdoor life."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "To the list of great Field & Stream essayists ... add the name Bill Heavey. His writing is funny, poignant, acerbic, and best of all, always alert to the absurdities of life."--Patrick C. McManus "Bill Heavey is the man who put the 'lure' in failure. He's my kind of fisherman, deer hunter, and wing shot. Which is to say the, um, very amateur kind. But who wants to hear about some braggart's cast and blast triumphs when you can hear about Bill catching a 14-inch largemouth bass on a pink Shakespeare Ladies' Spincast Combo? Even I have never done that. At least not sober."--P. J. O'Rourke "I've read Bill Heavey's page since the earliest days of my career. He's one of my all-time favorite writers. He's funny, fearless and always up for anything. If he could fish as well as he writes, I'd be in trouble. Fortunately, he can't."--Kevin VanDam, winningest professional bass angler of all time "[Heavey's] self-deprecating tales make us laugh... [He] writes about the good times as well as the demons of his outdoor life. Some chapters are for soul-searching, not just fun and games."--Cleveland Plain Dealer "Humorous and thought-provoking essays on what it means to be an outdoorsman... Readers will sense that it's possible to fail at your mission and still have a grand time if you don't take yourself too seriously."--Kirkus Reviews "Bill Heavey isn't just one of my favorite writers, though he is. He's also one of my heroes, proof that you can make an adult living by being witty, insightful and spending an awful lot of time outdoors. That's the dream, and it's chronicled in this book. Buy three copies."--Tucker Carlson "If you think of Bill Heavey as 'just' a humorist, you'll be selling him short, but it's his intelligent, unforced humor that hits you first and stays with you the longest."--John Gierach, author of At the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman and All Fishermen Are Liars "Bill Heavey is James Thurber in camouflage overalls, an unrelenting geyser of slapstick comedy and serrated wit. If he doesn't make you laugh, consult a coroner."--Jonathan Miles, author of Dear American Airlines "Heavey examines an eclectic variety of topics, from hunting to fishing to relationships and even life's more profound mysteries. His perspective is that of a devoted, if not always expert, outdoorsman. If in doubt, he makes fun of himself... Fellow outdoorspeople are the target audience, but the overall quality of the writing may draw even stay-at-homes."--Booklist "Bill Heavey has become famous as America's everyman outdoorsman, unafraid to draw attention to his many and varied failures--from sporting French lavender deodorant to scaring a UPS man half to death while bowhunting in his front yard."--DL-Online

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Book SynopsisFor more than twenty years, Bill Heavey has staked a claim as one of America's best writers and most passionateif not necessarily most skilledoutdoorsmen. In his new collection, Should the Tent Be Burning Like That?, Heavey takes readers across the country to experience his triumphs and failures as a suburban dad who happens to love hunting and fishing. He nearly drowns attempting to fish the pond inside the cloverleaf off an Interstate Highway four miles from the White House. He rents and crashes a forty-four-foot houseboat on a river in Florida. He accompanies a shaggy steelhead fanatic named Mikey on a thousand-mile odyssey on the California coast and comes to see him as a purer soul than almost anyone he has ever met.Whatever the subject, Heavey's tales are odes to the notion that enthusiasm is more important than skill, and a testament to the enduring power of the natural world. Whether he's hunting mule deer in Montana, draining cash on an overpriced pistol, or rumTrade ReviewPraise for Should the Tent Be Burning Like That?: “Readers don’t have to hunt or fish to appreciate Mr. Heavey’s essays, which . . . are more complicated than they first appear. The title of his book evokes the knee-slapping comedy of the campfire, a promise that his peculiar brand of farce frequently fulfills. But he also displays a gift for the sublime.”—Danny Heitman, Wall Street Journal “The traditional hook-and-bullet story involves an angler or a hunter, a measure of expertise, and the pursuit of fish or game. By story's end the author is usually describing landed fish or downed prey, and has rewarded readers along the way with field tips and knowledge. Bill Heavey takes a different approach, dispensing with the expertise and instead rewarding readers with madcap storytelling, laughter, commiserative cringing, but most of all a manic and contagious enthusiasm. Should the Tent Be Burning Like That? A Professional Amateur’s Guide to the Outdoors is Heavey’s latest miscellany, gathering many of his columns from Field & Stream, and whether crashing a houseboat in Florida or salving a bout of melancholy with some worm fishing, Heavey is absurdly great company throughout."—Garden & Gun “This new book is a collection of the best columns Bill has done for Field & Stream (and a few other publications) in the last few years, which is to say that it’s as good as anything anyone has written in any publication about anything. Give the Devil his due; Bill Heavey has a way with words . . . [He] inhabits a world [that] consists of animals and fish that are much better at surviving than he is at killing them; hostile, malfunctioning inanimate objects; incomprehensible written directions; doe pee that refuses to stay bottled; human folly, rain, sleet, wind, bad luck, no luck at all and, because he is now in his 60s, when your friends start dying in earnest, sorrow, pain, and loss. The secret to Bill’s success was laid bare at a speech he gave . . . to a club comprised of hypercompetitive hunters and fishermen in their 30s and 40s and 50s, all of whom are very successful in life and in their chosen sports . . . They loved him because all of them, who compete against fellow club members, and themselves, and game animals and fish, and Nature, had been defeated time and time again, sometimes ignominiously. And they persist, as does Bill. That is a Great Truth, and is the theme that runs through this book. As Hugh Glass said in The Revenant, “As long as you can pull a breath, you fight.” I trust Mr. Heavey will continue to milk it for all it’s worth.”—David E. Petzal, “The Gun Nuts,” Field & Stream “As a writer for Field and Stream, Bill Heavey has been able to connect with hunters, anglers and those who appreciate the great outdoors by sharing an honest perspective of his experiences. In an industry fueled by ego, Heavy’s writing style is far less serious, and focused on sharing his very own brand of comical failures with his readers.”—Outdoor Hub, “5 Reading Picks for the Hunter/Angler/Hiker/Camper” “Long-time outdoor magazine columnist Bill Heavey’s latest collection of tales, Should the Tent be Burning Like That, will have you laughing and learning into the wee hours [with] humor and practical advice on fatherhood and parenting, deer urine, yardwork, chasing steelheads, literature, mystical turkeys, friendship, surf casting and helplessly falling in love . . . Your indoors outdoorsman will keep it on his bedstand for a long, long, time.”—C.F. Foster, Florida Times Union

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Book SynopsisO'Rourke travels to hellholes around the globe--from war-torn Lebanon to Korea to Poland to El Salvador--looking for trouble, the truth, and good times. "A spin with P.J. O'Rourke is like a ride in the back of an old pickup over unpaved roads. You get where you're going fast, with exhilarating views--but not without a few bruises".--"The New York Times Book Review".

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“The courtroom scenes are wildly, brilliantly comic. . . . But Chase isn't just being cute here. . . . At heart, the book is an argument for openness and inner strength on every imaginable front. Chase makes this out-of-left-field story work brilliantly; a funny and sweet yet seriously topical novel.” -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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Book SynopsisA hilarious collection of essays dedicated to life in the great outdoors from Field & Stream''s acclaimed Sportsman''s Life columnist.For nearly a decade, Bill Heavey, an outdoorsman marooned in suburbia, has written the Sportsman''s Life column on the back page of Field & Stream, where he does for hunting and fishing what David Feherty does for golf and Lewis Grizzard did for the South. If You Didn''t Bring Jerky, What Did I Just Eat? is the first collection of Heavey''s sidesplitting observations on life as a hardcore (but often hapless) outdoorsman.Whether he''s hunting cougars in the desert, scheming to make his five-year-old daughter love fishing, or chronicling his father''s life through a succession of canine companions, Heavey brings his trademark wit to a wide-range of outdoor enthusiasms, running the gamut from elite expeditions to ordinary occupations.In turns hysterical and poignant, entertaining and educational, this is an irresistible addition to the collection of any avid outdoorsman—or any suburbanite intrigued by the call of the wild.Trade Review"Bill Heavey is my favorite writer. When I die, I want him to gut me, stuff me and deliver my eulogy for one good last laugh."-Ted Nugent "Bill Heavey's writing is funny, moving acerbic and, best of all, always alert to the absurdities of life. This is a book that will be read and reread for years and probably for generations."-Patrick F. McManus, author of Kerplunk! "Heavey's writing is at times so honest, so soul-baring, that he makes you feel downright uncomfortable for peeking into his life or the lives of his subjects, despite being invited... He conveys his foibles and follies with a wit to which most of us can relate."-Billings Gazette (Montana) "[Heavey's stories] will leave you snickering, snorting, belly laughing, and succumbing to uncontrolled outbursts. Mixed in there, I will warn you, are a few stories that might leave you heading for the back room so nobody will notice the tear in your eye."-Maine Hunting Today "The art of the story, a casualty of the era of Internet fixation, is a thing of beauty in Bill Heavy's voice. His best 62 yarns with Field & Stream are published in this collection, including "Rut Strategies For the Married Hunter," "Death and Fishing" and "The Art of Lying." One theme that runs through the yarns is the difficulty faced by a suburban outdoorsman who wants to fish and hunt. These make for great out-loud bedtime reads for kids."-Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle "Bill Heavey works his hunting and fishing schedule around the duties of a modern dad: mowing the lawn; paying the bills; and ferrying his daughter Emma to school, the dentist, play dates, and toy stores. In other words, he lives like most of us, and perhaps that is why his pieces are so resonant. For him, being at large in the woods for even a few hours is a spiritual journey, and the fact that the enterprise is doomed to failure more often than not is almost incidental. While he may not be in the accelerated class, skills-wise, Heavey has the heart of a true hunter. I urge you to buy this book."-David E. Petzal, Field & Stream columnist and author of The Complete Book of Hunting "Oh, Bill Heavey, you've gone and done it now! Just when I thought all the outdoor writers who could bring the feel of the woods to the printed page had all gone to their reward-guys like Ruark, Hemingway, and Babcock-you come along and prove me wrong. Heavey has an incredible talent for taking the stuff of everyday life-the frustrations and snippets of conversation and days when you don't catch a fish or see a deer-and throwing it all back at us with a slant that somehow brings us hope, reassures us we're not alone, and actually makes us grin. He does all of this because he was born to do it. I think God put him here to show us that what seems like just another day is actually a miracle, a once-in-a-lifetime event that we ought to be grateful for even as it slips through our hands."-Will Primos, founder and president of Primos Hunting Calls

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Book SynopsisAbstract artist and Zen practitioner Rodney Greenblat uses lighthearted narrative and vivid pop art paintings to celebrate the joys of living life from the inside outTrade Review"By allowing the content so much room to breathe, each painting or set of paintings comes into clear relief." --BoingBoing"Dharma Delight: A Visionary Post Pop Comic Guide to Buddhism and Zen is exactly as promised, an illustrated compendium peppered with vibrant comics, philosophical musings, and enchanting stories to explore and present the ideologies of Buddhism and Zen…This guide can be an excellent start for anyone curious about Buddhism and Zen, ready to tap into its mysteries and delights." --Asian Fortune News"Greenblat's made something quite attractive, personal, and informative." --Japan Reference blog

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Book SynopsisWisdom comes in many forms, and the search for wisdom has many expressions. In Dharma Delight, celebrated New York abstract artist and Zen student Rodney Alan Greenblat uses light-hearted, inviting narrative and vivid pop art paintings to celebrate the joys of living life from the inside out.

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Book SynopsisColloquial in tone, balancing narrative breadth with precise detail, Davis Kirby's poetry displays his voracious curiosity about history, science, literature, and popular culture. Yet here he also reinvents himself with poems that recall the compactness of Jack Gilbert, the sweep of Allen Ginsberg, and the introspection of Frank O'Hara.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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