Q 01/05

Why does Rancid Crabtree, the old woodsman of Patrick F. McManus's stories, refuse to bathe?

A) Soap scares off fish

B) It would let germs in

C) Baths bring bad luck

D) Water rusts his joints

Answer · why

B) It would let germs in

It would let germs in, Rancid reasons: soap and water would wash off his protective 'crust'. He is the foremost character in McManus's tales of an Ida...

Q 02/05

What nickname does Patrick F. McManus give his older sister Patricia in his childhood stories?

A) The Troll

B) The Warden

C) The Gorgon

D) The Banshee

Answer · why

A) The Troll

The Troll was his name for big sister Patricia, who helped raise him after their dad died when he was six. Decades later the two wrote a book together...

Q 03/05

Patrick F. McManus's 'They Shoot Canoes, Don't They?' spoofs a 1935 novel title naming what animals?

A) Elephants

B) Wolves

C) Horses

D) Buffalo

Answer · why

C) Horses

Horses were the original targets in Horace McCoy's grim dance-marathon novel. McManus borrowed the title for his second collection of magazine pieces.

Q 04/05

According to Patrick F. McManus's first book, what should a person lost in the woods give way to?

A) Sleep

B) Hunger

C) Prayer

D) Panic

Answer · why

D) Panic

Panic, he insists, is the proper response, and he sorts it into styles such as the Modified Stationary Panic and the Full-Bore Linear Panic.

Q 05/05

Which animal does Patrick F. McManus call the fisherman's arch-nemesis, worse than barbed wire?

A) The mosquito

B) The cow

C) The beaver

D) The black bear

Answer · why

B) The cow

The cow is the fisherman's arch-nemesis in A Fine and Pleasant Misery, his first book. His later camping guide for children even covers what to do if ...