Elusive Trout book presentation Saturday in Spokane

FISHING — So you procrastinated and you’re fishing for something for Dad before Sunday.

You’re in luck!

Artist/illustrator Deanna Camp is scheduled for a signing of Elusive Trout , her new book collaboration with Spokane-are author Paul Quinnett on Saturday, June 18, at Ritter’s Garden & Gift from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Following is my review of the book, which is as cools as it is original:

• “The Search for Elusive Trout: True Tales & Cocktails,” by Deanna Camp and Paul Quinnett ( elusivetrout.com ).

This is the book for the angler who enjoys getting hooked in the butt by good humor. It’s like no other book on your shelf: A guide to finding the fish you never even dreamed about.

Then again, maybe you’ve pondered the thrill of catching a Troutalope or a Camotrout.

“If we’d wanted to appeal to your sane side, we would have written and illustrated ‘A River Runs through It’ or ‘The Old Man and the Sea,’ the authors point out in the Foreword. “But these books are for normal people.

“We like normal people, but they are not very interesting, or at least not as interesting as trout-crazy people.”

Elusive Trout is an unusual mix and humorous collection of whimsical trout illustrations, outlandish stories, quotes and quips plus original cocktail recipes and a rich mix of catchy photos and digressions.

Occasionally, Quinnett ventures into the realm of truth and philosophy.

“I have made it a matter of policy to disbelieve all fishing stories on their first telling,” he writes. “They begin to have the ring of truth, however, after I’ve repeated them several times.”

In pursuit of the “Pimped Trout,” he notes, “There are two things you can count on in life: Sooner or later the trout will rise, and whatever it is they’re rising for will not be in your fly box.”

This is a coffee table book and a bedside book. It also will produce fodder for discussion from chairs around a campfire.

Camp works in Spokane with her husband at their marketing agency, Camp Creative. Her 40 years of painting and graphic design experience shine on these pages.

Quinnett is a Spokane-area psychologist who also happens to be equally masterful with the written word and a fishing rod. He’s the author of “Pavlov’s Trout” and “Darwin’s Bass.” He’s also a leading expert in suicide prevention, but that’s another story.

This book in itself makes you want to live, fish, and maybe drink to your success as variable as it inevitably is.