He Is Risen!

I’m writing on Friday night – my new weekend routine now that our editor has shifted the deadline to Friday at midnight. Although it’s Good Friday now, by the time this is read by anyone but the Beebe News staff, Easter will have come and gone. Therefore I bid you all a belated Happy Easter!

Book Review

It’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed a book for readers of this little corner of the Beebe News. Judgment is not really my shtick, but I have to tell you about this one.

“A Fine and Pleasant Misery” by Patrick F. McManus (ISBN 0-8050-0032-1) was thrust upon me over the Christmas break; a time when I was supposed to be letting my batteries recharge after a grueling first semester at school. The presenter (who has been named in previous columns and will go unmentioned from here on) promised it would be a “light read” and that I’d surely get a laugh out of it…

With my deadline just fifty-seven minutes away, I feel I better cut to the meat of my point…

I read this book during short bouts in my bedroom over the course of weeks, and I assure you that I have NEVER laughed so hard while reading a book in my whole life! I tried valiantly night after night to stifle my guffaws and chuckles while reading in bed at night, but it became more than I – and my frequently awakened wife – could handle, so I moved to more distant seating.

By the way, I have learned from this experience that stifling any laughter beyond just a short burst or a mild chuckle is a waste of time. Clasp your mouth, and it will simply sneak out your nose, which is funny in and of itself and sloppy as well. If you manage to plug both of these orifices, you’ll find that the laughs then well up as tears, and you end up rushing to the bathroom to find a towel with which to stifle your complete face! Of course this puts an end to the immediate reading, and I would titter and crawl back to bed. Eventually I just brought along a clean towel…

McManus tells tales of his youth in a spirit that is completely contagious, and I found myself caught up in his tales time after time. Any young boy that ever camped out, fished, or dreamed of adventure will laugh as I did.

McManus also has a great following of deer widows, mothers of young adventure seekers and other women readers, who used to applaud him as the only writer in Field & Stream that they could understand and enjoy. He has also picked up many a fan from doctor and dental patients who needed a tension-breaking laugh while idling in a waiting room. If you’ve ever seen someone laugh out loud in a doctor’s office while reading F&S, you can blame Patrick McManus.

Tick Tock Tick Tock…

Patrick McManus has been compared to Art Buchwald, Mark Twain, and Garrison Keillor, and I believe comes out on top. Find ANYTHING he has written and let mew know what you think, okay?

And if either of those Robison boys hand you a book to read in your limited spare time, I would run away quickly unless you too are in urgent need of some sinus clearing, eye watering laughter.

Next Week: it’s Julie’s Turn!

Reach Paul and Julie Hill at hillsview@sbcglobal.net or at PO Box 599, Beebe, AR 72012