Tom Bodett was born in 1955 and grew up in Sturgis, Michigan. He has been a cannery worker, a logger, an independent building contractor, and a commentator on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." He is the author of a previous collection, As Far As You Can Go Without a Passport, and is the national media pitchman for Motel 6. He lives with his wife and son in Homer, Alaska, from where he hosted "The End of the Road Review," a nationally syndicated weekly radio variety show.

• * Introduction * Taking Pot Luck * Mood Piece * Mechanical Inclinations * Wood: You Can Count on It * Old Friend Guilt * Ditch Diving * Sixty-Four-Dollar Questions * Bad Signs * Command Performance * See and Be Seen * Taking Potluck * Off the Top of My Head * Shake What Thing? * Pet Peeves * Wait Divisions * Cleanliness vs. Godliness * Strangers in my Chairs * Symptoms of Fatherhood * Dadiholics Anonymous * A Housebuilders Guide to Homemaking * Dish Demeanor Small Comforts * Small Comfort * Gross Estimates * Senior Boom * Mental Safety * I Aim to Please * Miss America * Lost Mail * Chain Reactions * Burger Blues * A Year of Peace * Hard Comprisons Not Letting Go * Eulogy for an Ancient Eskimo * Ohlsen Mountain * State of Spring * Back to School * Last Dollar * Pretty As a Picture * Working Slobs * Orphans * Wow * Fathers Day * Not Letting Go

Tom Bodett was born in 1955 and grew up in Sturgis, Michigan. He has been a cannery worker, a logger, an independent building contractor, and a commentator on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." He is the author of a previous collection, As Far As You Can Go Without a Passport, and is the national media pitchman for Motel 6. He lives with his wife and son in Homer, Alaska, from where he hosted "The End of the Road Review," a nationally syndicated weekly radio variety show.

• * Introduction * Taking Pot Luck * Mood Piece * Mechanical Inclinations * Wood: You Can Count on It * Old Friend Guilt * Ditch Diving * Sixty-Four-Dollar Questions * Bad Signs * Command Performance * See and Be Seen * Taking Potluck * Off the Top of My Head * Shake What Thing? * Pet Peeves * Wait Divisions * Cleanliness vs. Godliness * Strangers in my Chairs * Symptoms of Fatherhood * Dadiholics Anonymous * A Housebuilders Guide to Homemaking * Dish Demeanor Small Comforts * Small Comfort * Gross Estimates * Senior Boom * Mental Safety * I Aim to Please * Miss America * Lost Mail * Chain Reactions * Burger Blues * A Year of Peace * Hard Comprisons Not Letting Go * Eulogy for an Ancient Eskimo * Ohlsen Mountain * State of Spring * Back to School * Last Dollar * Pretty As a Picture * Working Slobs * Orphans * Wow * Fathers Day * Not Letting Go