Northwest Basic Training: Essential Skills for Visitors, Newcomers, and Native Northwesterners

by Greg Eiden, Kurt Holloman (Illustrations)

This how-to manual gives the skinny on a wide range of skills you'll need to thrive in the Northwest, including ways to shuck an oyster without amputating a finger, how to start your own garage rock band, and what to do if you suddenly find yourself wearing a mountain lion. The paranoid will especially enjoy the Deal with Disasters section, which gives instructions for how to survive a tsunami, what to do if you're bitten by a rattler, and routes to take if you need to escape a wildfire. Great for earnest visitors, brave newcomers, or grizzled old Northwest-lifers--real information, just in case.

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

Reviews

[Teresa]

Hilarious.

[Anthony Clair]

Just like our blessedly quirky region, this basic training book for the Northwest is useful yet tongue-in-cheek. I dug it out recently while a friend visited from Chicago, and we discussed vital survival tactics including digging for geoducks and how to order craft beer.

A good read whether you're moving to the Northwest, just visiting, or a native. Also a fun gift.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to learn to throw a Pulaski axe.

[Liz]

A parody of the Worst Case Scenerio series, this tells you what you need to know when living in the Northwest. Everything from how to order coffee to surviving the logic-defying traffic jams.

I'm not sure how funny it would be if you didn't know the peculiarities of the Northwest, but it's quite amusing if you do.