Paperback: The Best of Outside edited by Mark Bryant

Perfect fodder for the armchair voyager, this selection from the first 20 years of the US adventure magazine Outside includes such treats as the 10-page article by Sebastian Junger that was the seed for The Perfect Storm. But the book isn't all ruffty-tuffty stuff like Thomas McGuane's account of hunting in Montana ("I wanted the Old Rugged and a pot to piss in"). There is also an endearing article about female rodeo riders ("Miss Rodeo Utah wore baby-blue boots, and Merle Norman's Boston Blue eye-shadow"). Ian Frazier's piece about untangling plastic bags from trees between Manhattan and Missouri is a poignant reflection on modern America.