Live Free and Eat Pie!: A Storyteller's Guide to New Hampshire

New Hampshire storyteller, humorist and short story writer Rebecca Rule's latest book is a funny and even useful guide to the Granite State. A lot more personable and entertaining than the usual guidebook, it is chock full of facts, advice, and stories. The trick is knowing which is which. For instance, Rule provides a remedy for biting flies which involves gluing a blue or yellow ("these are the only colors that will work") cup to your hat and painting the rest of the hat with stickum. "Instead of getting in your face, those hoss- and deerflies will fly into the stickum and get stuck. End of problem. "And nobody will laugh at the blue or yellow cup on your head. "Trust me." Some facts, though, are incontrovertible. The average number of ticks on a moose's back for instance: 55,000. ("Some have as few as 10,000. Some as many as 120,000. Depends on the moose and its personal hygiene.") And some advice is indisputable, like the long list of items to pack for winter wear including mittens and gloves to go inside the mittens, and the very short list for spring: "Deet". In addition to the basic stats, geography, wildlife, history, folklore, politics, cuisine, things to do, and advice for dealing with the natives, Rule sprinkles the book thickly with illustrative stories she's collected from her travels around the state. These are a treat. "Ice fishing is a popular winter sport. A fella from Massachusetts wanted to try his hand at it. `Go out in the middle of the cove, the native advised. `Cut a hole and go to it.' "The next day, the native asked the fella from away how the fishing went. `Geez,' the fella said, `by the time I cut a hole big enough for the boat, I was too tired to fish.' " And "How to execute a New Hampshire hug:" "Step one: Stand shoulder to shoulder with the potential huggee, facing forward. "Step two: Fold your arms tight across your chest. "Step three: Turn just your head to face the potential huggee as the potential huggee does the same. "Step four: Nod." All joking aside, Rule, a New Hampshire native (though not quite five generations in the ground), has done her homework. Even a native could find new things to do, as well as evaluating Rule's opinions of familiar places and activities. The section on towns off the tourist-beaten path might spur some to get in the car - and most towns come with a true story told by a townsperson. "`This is a true story,' they say, looking me right in the eye. They all say it. It's a New Hampshire tradition." Rule's dry wit, story-telling flair and the New Hampshirite's shrewd sense of combining practicality with entertainment makes this book a winning attraction for anybody who lives in NH, visits, is thinking of visiting, passes through or drives up this way on the interstate. As well as anybody who likes to be entertained and educated at the same time. Only remember: "You might want to double check some of my `facts' before you go quoting them. I am a professional liar, after