Monster Stick: And Other Appalachian Tall Tales

By Bill Lepp and Paul Lepp

Book Overview

Winner of PLA/ALLS Best New Books for New Adult Readers Storytelling World Award

What's the Monster Stick? It's Paul's "nine-foot, surf casting rod full of six miles of brand new 50-pound test Stren Carp cord with 20 pound, custom made, stainless steel, slip-sliding sinkers." The adventures Paul finds himself in from the day the Monster Stick comes into his life rival those of Paul Bunyan but add a modern twist, as when he somehow sets the hook in a DC-10 flown by drug smugglers.

Then there's Buck-dog, Bil's "extraordinary hunting dog, whose mama was a German shepherd but whose daddy was a determined and extremely prolific basset hound." Buck is smarter than your average human and stronger than four CS&X train engines pulling in unison, which he proves repeatedly as he takes on anything, including the government. These tall tales led the Lepp brothers to so many championships in the West Virginia State Liars' Competition that their amateur status was nearly revoked. But that's another tale...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874835771
• ISBN13: 9780874835779
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: August House Publishers
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 3 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 12

Customer Reviews

A "Gold Star" on the Forehead of West Virginia

Bil Lepp and his brother have put together a collection of new "Tall Tales" that is not to be missed. Not buying this book is akin to bypassing Twain in his day. (O.k.-Maybe that's a little much, but you get the point.) The storytelling is superb, always compelling and surprising, twisting around hysterical subjects and impossible(?) settings. In this day and age you don't get many chances to read a new author with as much talent as Bil has for spewing forth untruths that sound so believable! Take my word for it, this one is a keeper! You won't be disappointed!

I hope Bil and Pauls folks have produced more Lepps

If Mark Twain, John Steinbeck or Ernest Hemingway had been twins we'd be alot better off, but since that didn't happen we need as many W.V. Lepps as they had Waltons.The Lepps have pieced together a hilarious array of short stories and tall tales that you'll want to share with everyone from your preacher to your parole officer. These stories capture a vanishing part of Americana in a way the old Andy Griffith show did, except that the Lepps lie alot.Can't wait for them to get a book on tape, but until they do I'm sure glad they wrote this book.

The Monster Stick etc...

This is really a fantastic book. I read a friend's Rev. Regina Spring's that she bought it directly from Rev. Bil ar her course of studies. I am purchasing this book for a Christmas present. I would recommend it to anyone! Funny! I would recommend it to all preachers!

Tall tales and humor. A wonderful book!

If you like tall tales and humor, you'll like this book. Stories range from the wonderous fishing exploits of the "Monster Stick" to the Herculean feats of Buck The Wonder Dog. I especially liked the story about how wild turkeys learned to disappear from the hunters. Another favorite is a tall tale of how the author won $1000 in the lottery, only to lose it to a Wildlife Officer in fines. I hope the author will write many more!

The Lepp brothers are really original...with a capital OH!

In the best tale-telling tradition of those West By-Gum Virginia hills, the Lepp brothers manage to be really, really original. That's Original...with a capital OH! A trip on their Yellow Brick Road will take you to Laugh Land...A place of reading enchantment. But be careful, it's bound to be a road full of chuckle-holes.