The Greatest Hunting Stories Ever Told: Twenty-Nine Unforgettable Tales »

LAMAR UNDERWOOD, former Editor-in-Chief of Sports Afield and Outdoor Life magazines, is presently Editorial Director of the Outdoor Magazine Group of Harris Publications in New York. He has edited The Greatest Fishing Stories Ever Told, Man Eaters, The Bass Almanac, and The Quotable Soldier. He is the author of the novel, On Dangerous Ground.

Here are 26 true tales of hunting and adventure from the best-known and best-loved writers on the subject.

The stories in this collection will take you hunting for all sorts of game, in locations that range from mountain peaks to lowland swamps. Follow these great writers as they delve into their personal memories, igniting recollections sure to touch upon any avid hunter's own experiences, as they combine to form a collective hunting scrapbook.

The Greatest Hunting Stories Ever Told is an indispensable volume for all lovers and students of the natural world and the instincts that govern it. If your definition of home includes fields and marshes, creeks and river bottoms, plains and mountains, consider this required reading.

With contributions from:

• Havilah Babcock
• John Barsness
• Vance Bourjaily
• Nash Buckingham
• Peter Capstick
• William Faulkner Charles Fergus
• John Taintor Foote
• Ernest Hemingway
• Gene Hill
• Tom Kelly
• Gordon MacQuarrie
• John Madson
• Thomas McGuane
• Patrick O'Brian
• Jack O'Connor
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Robert C. Ruark
• Ivan Turgenev
• Ed Zern
• And many more!

Library Journal

These two anthologies follow close behind a similar pair from last summer, Paul D. Staudohar's Fishing's Best Short Stories (LJ 7/00) and Hunting's Best Short Stories (Chicago Review, 2000). Hyperbole aside, all four are packed with fine prose from notable authors both classic and contemporary. That overlap between the competing counterparts is minimal just goes to show that fields and streams have been wonderful muses to many generations of writers. These diverse selections of short fiction and essays are enhanced by Underwood's informative prefatory remarks giving literary or historical context or adding some amusing anecdotes or interesting trivia. Underwood is a former editor-in-chief of Sports Afield and Outdoor Life and knew many of the authors personally. Patrick O'Brien, Thomas McGuane, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Ruark, Ben East, Charles Eliot, John Barsness, and Ed Zern are represented by separate contributions in both books. Major angling writers such as A.J. McClane, John Gierach, and Nick Lyons are in the Fishing book, of course, but there are also laudable pieces by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Le Anne Schreiber, and Zane Grey. The unanticipated outstanding authors in the Hunting volume include William Faulkner, Ivan Turgenev, and Theodore Roosevelt. The stories in both collections range from tender to raucous to knee-slapping hilarious. Highly recommended for all public libraries.--Will Hepfer, SUNY at Buffalo Libs. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

(vii) INTRODUCTION by Lamar Underwood, (1) LAST SHELL IN THE RIFLE by Ben East, (2) THE DAWN FLIGHTING by Patrick O'Brian, (3) THE HEART OF THE GAME by Thomas McGuane, (4) IN FIELDS NEAR HOME by Vance Bourjaily, (5) RACE AT MORNING by William Faulkner, (6) SPIRIT OF THE NORTH by Thomas McIntyre, (7) MISTER HOWARD WAS A REAL GENT by Robert C. Ruark, (8) SLIM BOGGINS' MISTAKE by Havilah Babcock, (9) THE BLACK DEATH by Peter Hathaway Capstick, (10) OUT ON THE LAND by Charles Fergus, (10) THE NINETY-SEVEN by John Barsness, (11) TO THE OPEN WATER by Jesse Hill Ford, (12) PHEASANTS BEYOND AUTUMN
by John Madson, (13) TRACKS TO REMEMBER by Tom Hennessey, (14) REMEMBERING SHOOTING-FLYING: A KEY WEST L0ETTER by Ernest Hemingway, (15) A BEARDED LEGEND: MY BEST ALL-TIME TROPHY by Charles Elliot, (16) THE WINGS OF DAWN by George Reiger, (17) SUSITNA MOOSE HUNT by Russell Annabel, (18) GREAT MORNING by Gene Hill, (19) DOG UPON THE WATERS by John Taintor Foote, (20) THE GAME OF THE HIGH PEAKS: THE WHITE GOAT by Theodore Roosevelt, (21) FORTY-CROOK BRANCH by Tom Kelly, (22) "POTHOLE GUYS, FRIZ OUT" by Gordon MacQuarrie, (23) THE FOREST AND THE STEPPE by Ivan Turgenev, (24) BOB WHITE, DOWN'T ABERDEEN by Nash Buckingham, (25) RAMS IN THE SNOW by Jack O'Connor, (26) ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? by Robert F. Jones, (27) THE THAK MAN-EATER by Jim Corbett, (28) A MIXED BAG OF ZERN by Ed Zern