Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Book Suggestions for my Dad?

I'm trying to come up with some books to get my Dad. He's having problems with his knees and isn't able to work in the garden and do the other outdoor stuff he used to do as much. He's not really a science fiction or fantasy type of guy which pretty much wipes out most of my collection.

He really enjoyed Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard and Where the Red Fern Grows. If you've read either of those books, you'll have an idea of the sort of books he'd like: hunting and hunting dogs, and the outdoor life.

So, anyone have any suggestions for me?

How about anything by Patrick F. McManus? His collections of autobiographical hunting, fishing, and camping short stories are hilarious.

Here's a bit from one about his dog:

We had called the dog Stranger out of the faint hope he was just passing through. As it turned out, the name was most inappropriate since he stayed on for nearly a score of years, all the while biting the hands that fed him and making snide remarks about my grandmother's cooking. Eventually the name was abbreviated to "Strange," which was shorter and more descriptive. My mother used to stay that Strange was like one of the family. Then my grandmother would bawl her out and say that was no way to talk about my Uncle George.

That's from A Fine and Pleasant Misery, his first book, but there are many others.

Obviously you already know about the "So what are you READING?" thread at the top of this forum, you could check there for some ideas.

When you take sci-fi and fantasy out of the equation you take away a good deal of my library as well too. Does he like cop/catch the serial killer type books? The Travis McGee series from John MacDonald follows a 1960s/70s detective that tracks down stuff and rights wrongs for half of whatever is recovered. Not too many dogs in the three that I've read so far but they've been vastly entertaining.

Mindhunter and Journey into Darkness from John Douglas are fairly interesting true crime reads. Douglas helped to create the behavioral science unit of the FBI and these books talk about some of the cases he worked on during that time (Green River Killer, Bundy, et al).

Boy's Life by Robert McCammon is a phenomenal book. Not quite outdoor life but the boy does walk through the woods for a while and rides his bike alot.

Jack London's Call of the Wild or White Fang. Lord of the Flies.

I am guessing your dad may have read these already.

How about A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson?

Bryson's an interesting character. He grew up in DesMoine, IA but ended up spending much of his adult life working for a newspaper in the UK, got married there, had kids, etc. A few years ago he moved back to the U.S. and did the Appalachian Trail.

Jon Krakauer--Into Thin Air, or Into the Wild.

The Finca Vigia edition of the short stories of Ernest Hemingway--about a third of the stories (and most of my favorites) are about hunting and fishing, at least on the surface.

Additionally, Outside Magazine has some really great writing about the great outdoors--mostly on camping, climbing, etc. but also just generally on outdoor life. A subscription might not be a bad idea.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone.

Is a story set in a post-apocalyptic future sceience-fiction or fantasy or neither?

Either way - I'm totally recommending one for your Dad BB...

'The Road' by Cormac McCarthey.

Not only is it the most wonderful story about the relationship between a father and son (therefore a great gift from you to him) but it's also a fantastic study about being self-sufficient and resilient in an extremely hostile world. And it's written by one of the ultimate "man's man" authors.

I'm 99.9% positive he will love it!