I went to Coles bookstore today (it's the bookstore nearest my work) to hunt down some of the 17 books that I do not have of the 2011 Canada Reads "longlist" of 40. Nary a one could be found. Poop.

So I wandered over to the Millennium Library to see what I could unearth from their used book rack. No Canada Reads selections, but I did find this one. Yahoo!

Over on Twitter I tweeted that I was a wee bit in love with Jake MacDonald. It's true, although I've never met the man.

I was also trying to fit into 140 characters, the following poem (author/poet unknown to me, and reciting from memory, so I may be messing with it a bit):

Behold the Fisherman

He riseth early in the morning,
And disturbeth the whole household.
He maketh mighty preparations,
And fareth forth full of hope.
He returneth late
Smelling of strong drink, and
...the truth is not in him.

I'm sure this little ditty was written with guys like Jake and his cronies in mind. When I was a kid, I really thought it was written for my father and his cronies.

I grew up on the lake. In fact, my grandparents owned a tourist camp when I was young. The above poem and an accompanying cartoon was written on a little plaque that hung in every one of the cabins. So, I know when a fisherman tells you the one that got away was yay big, you've got to move his hands in about a foot.

When you read Jake MacDonald's collection of vignettes about he and his cronies on their manly adventures involving guns and fishing rods, boats and helicopters, sharks and dogs, and plenty of booze, the inclination might be to move his hands in about a foot. But don't. I'm sure it's the gospel truth. In fact, while I don't know Jake personally, I do know many of his cronies and I'm here to vouch for the fact that his sister's husband would never have passed "the test" in his blazer and watch fob, but that M K was wise to let him rewrite. Also, there are those like Caitlin who do have "the touch" (or otherwise known as having the fish gods on their side).

I know these stories are true because not only do they smell of booze and sweat and vomit and offal, they smell of love and loss, and loyalty and friendship, and respect. Respect for each other, for the women in their lives, for nature and for life.

Oh and Jake, if you still haven't caught that muskie, get yourself a Believer. ~~~~~>O

Sending these boys out on another adventure. I'll take them to our meeting tonight and if no takers, they'll pine on the shelf awaiting a new listener to whom to tell their fish stories.

To the finder:
Welcome to the wonderful and wacky world of BookCrossing! Here you'll find a unique and worldwide community of book lovers sharing their books. This book is now yours! Read it, enjoy it. Keep it or pass it on to someone you know or even release it back into the wild as I did. If you make a journal entry (either anonymously or as a BookCrossing member) all previous readers of this book will be notified by e-mail and can follow this book on its travels. BookCrossing is free to join, completely confidential (you are known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your email address) and it's a whole lot of fun!

I picked this up at this evening's get together at the Park Theatre Cafe - thanks Pooker3! Such a small world...I went to school with the author's sister! :-) Well...maybe not so small...it is Winnipeg, after all, and we Winnipeggers do seem to pop up everywhere.

I'm looking forward to reading this and seeing what else sounds familiar... ;-)

Well, I loved this book. MacDonald writes in a way that pulls me into his world. So many of the places he wrote about were places I'd been. I passed this on to my mom (it was one of her book club books) and she enjoyed it as much as I did. Time to pass it along to someone else now... :-)

I'll be visiting Little Free Library #2873 this evening, along with a few other BookCrossers. If no one takes this book home, it will join the other Little Free Library books to await a new reader. Happy Reading!!

Well this book didn't make it to the LFL. Kismet and Pooker3 gave it such a glowing review I just had to bring it home with me. Thanks for the fun evening and the new books.

Sorry Pooker3 and K-i-s-m-e-t, but I just did not love this book. I really hoped it would explain for me the attraction of hunting and fishing but I'm still at a loss. However, I have someone in mind who probably will totally get it. Just the other day he sent me a short story he has written about getting up in the early hours to go duck hunting.

Jake MacDonald tells great stories and he's funny in just the way I like. I found myself chuckling quite often as I read this collection of personal remembrances. I thought if anyone could explain the allure of hunting and fishing Jake MacDonald could. Jake starts off when he was a young lad going out hunting with his Dad. They would leave on a Thursday afternoon from Winnipeg and drive out to Marsh Manor, their hunting lodge. Both the name and the description exaggerate: a decrepit, mouse-infested old City of Winnipeg trolley bus . Once there his Dad and his Dad's buddies would barbecue steaks, play some poker and drink whiskey and Jake would fall into his sleeping bag and pull it over his head so "the mice wouldn't run across my face." In the morning they would get up before dawn, eat a huge breakfast and then canoe to a hiding spot where they would wait for unsuspecting ducks to come in to land.

Now I get the part about getting out into the country, enjoying the surroundings (although I prefer the mice to stay outside of the area I am sleeping in), getting up early to see the dawn and watching for waterfowl. However, the only way I am going to shoot them is with a camera. I love watching ducks feeding, with their little behinds stuck up in the air, and I think a flight of geese coming in to land is a wonder to behold.

To MacDonald's credit he does seem to eat the birds he kills but he wouldn't starve if he never killed another bird. I also understand that one of the reasons there are plenty of places where I can go watch birds is because Ducks Unlimited, an organization of hunters, has helped preserve these spots. I also know that most waterfowl are not endangered so the hunters can't be making too big a dent in their population. I don't have anything against hunting or fishing as long as it is done in a manner that respects the earth and the animals. But I still don't understand the attraction of spending time and a lot of money to do so. I guess I'll have to accept that I am never going to understand it.

I went to visit a friend who used to hunt quite a bit. He has some health complications that preclude going out right now but maybe he will get back to it. In the meantime he can read about it.