As we head into late fall it’s time to pull some great books off the shelf and do some quality reading - especially now with the Park closed.

As we promised this summer when we opened the site - we’re avid readers, and hope to post reviews to help you round out your personal / family library with great books about fly fishing and the West.  Just like everyone these days we’ve been busy with fishing and other life things - there’s always something to get done, isn’t there?

Here is one of those great books - Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig.  Our copy was published in 1987 by Harper and Row, though a new edition has been released in May of 2006. 

As many (most) of you no doubt know, Doig was raised in northern Montana along the Rocky Mountain front, and worked as a ranch hand, magazine editor, newspaperman, and is an authoritative and talented writer. 

Dancing at the Rascal Fair highlights the hardscrabble lives of Scottish immigrants Angus McCaskill and Rob Barclay.  From the very well detailed ocean voyage to the wagon journey to the Two Medicine country of Montana, Doig captures the spirit of their adventure in masterful terms - and provides great insight into these spirited and stubborn characters. 

The book covers 30 years of struggles and victories - the characters much less than perfect lives lived in an extraordinary setting, as well as an engaging romance proceding to an unlikely resolution.

If you love the romance of Montana and the true West, Doig offers a glimpse into the early days as few can, and few have.  If not in your library, this is a must have in your Montana collection.

This is the first book in a trilogy (English Creek, Ride with Me Mariah Montana) - we’ll review the others in the next few days - I’m just finishing the third book now myself again……

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