The Deer on a Bicycle: Excursions into the Writing of Humor [Paperback]

Patrick F. McManus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2000

For his fourteenth book, Patrick McManus lets us inside the laughs. This guide, by one of the world's best-known and respected humorists, is an insightful and entertaining book for anyone who writes humor or has ever wanted to.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patrick McManus's has been an editor-at-large of OUTDOOR LIFE for the last two decades and is also a professor emeritus of Eastern Washington University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: Eastern Washington University Press (April 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0910055629
• ISBN-13: 978-0910055628
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patrick F. McManus is a renowned outdoor writer, humorist, and longtime columnist for Outdoor Life and Field & Stream. His most recent books are the Sheriff Bo Tully mysteries Avalanche and The Blight Way. He is the author of many other books, including such runaway New York Times bestsellers as The Grasshopper Trap, The Night the Bear Ate Goombaw, and Real Ponies Don't Go Oink! He lives in Spokane, Washington.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not your normal Pat McManus book, March 15, 2000

By 

Daryl R. Gibson "Writer, Editor, Technology Geek" (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Deer on a Bicycle: Excursions into the Writing of Humor (Paperback)

Potential purchasers of this excellent book should understand that this is not your normal Patrick McManus book. This book is *not* a collection of McManus stories, although some stories are used to illustrate concepts. Rather, this is an excellent book on the craft and art of humor writing. For people just interested in McManus' writing, this might be somewhat of the "magic behind the magician" variety...sometimes, you don't want to know how the feat is accomplished. For writers, or anyone who wants to know how Pat got into the business, and how he manages to keep at the top, this is an excellent book.
It is a book that can easily be used as a textbook for humor writing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Humor Tool, August 21, 2002

By 

Amy Givler (Monroe, LA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Deer on a Bicycle: Excursions into the Writing of Humor (Paperback)

For those of us who write and want to inject a bit of humor in our writing, Patrick McManus has given us an invaluable tool with this book. It's not only instructive and reflective on what makes humor humorous, it's also a funny book in itself. It probably helps that I love to read McManus's wild stories and find them hilarious. But he's a good enough story teller that anyone will find him a good tutor. The only disappointing thing was to learn that many of his stories are complete fiction (and not loosely based on some real event in his past). He sure had me convinced.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Snatch the Pebble from his Hand, November 7, 2001

By 

Vicki M. Taylor "author and reader" (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Deer on a Bicycle: Excursions into the Writing of Humor (Paperback)

Patrick McManus has always been somewhat of an enigma to me. I loved to read his columns as a child. I'd sneak away with my father's hunting and fishing magazines just to read the humorous writings of McManus like other children did with their dad's Playboy magazines.

It wasn't until I was an adult that I truly appreciated McManus' humor. And, now, as an author myself, I have come to understand his writing.

This book gives great insight into what makes McManus write. He uses past essays to help describe the techniques he uses. Most of all, he gives all of us a glimpse into what makes McManus funny.

If you're looking for the "secret" that makes McManus an awesome author, you won't find it in black and white. It's more like studying a master and hoping that some day you can be half as good. No one can be another McManus, but if you study his writings and study his words on writing humor, you might, JUST MIGHT, get to be half as funny.

So, as Grasshopper learned from his master, you too can learn from this master.