Rating: 
Summary: Wood is Good
Review: A classic, said Mark Twain, is a book which people praise but don't read. If Twain was right, the latest collection of essays by Michigan's talented Jerry Dennis will never be a classic, and we should hope not. This book will be read, again and again, by anyone who covets the aroma of tent canvas, the fit of elkskin moccasins, or the crisp solitude of an October morning on a remote northern lake or stream. Jerry's new book contains 31 sparkling essays on the merits of everything from iron skillets to Union Suits, from finely honed wooden paddles to the best wood for a campfire. Reflecting on years of gentle meandering, Jerry lovingly explains how tradition and quality dovetail to make outdoor pursuits more comfortable, and more comforting to the soul. There's a yearning in these descriptive passages, a questing spirit that sings, "There's still an hour 'til dark; let's paddle the north fork to see what we find." And you do, because for Jerry and his readers, adventure invariably lies around the next bend. "From a Wooden Canoe" is superbly illustrated by Glenn Wolff. The book makes me glad there's wild country to explore and perceptive, contemplative writers like Jerry Dennis to stir the campfires of my heart.
Rating:
Summary: A collection of elegant essays by a gifted writer.
Review: From A Wooden Canoe wraps the classic tools of an outdoor life in a series of short essays that capture dew drops and mist, the water songs of dipping paddles and rain on granite. It offers a respite from tabloid news, cell phones, and microchips. The essays sting our eyes with woodsmoke then soothe them with starlight and wrap us safe in an old wool coat.The book brought bittersweet memories of frosty camps, my father watching a snowy tree line, the sweet smell of cedar from a hundred swamps. It is cabined on a special shelf with Harrison, McPhee, McGuane, and Abbey.
Rating:
Summary: Clean and classy: excellent nature writing/sense of place.
Review: How does he do it? Jerry Dennis goes beyond the outward appearance of an object and explores far deeper realms, conjuring up the romance and resonance of pocketknives, tents... hell, even the month of October. A fine follow-up to A Place on the Water and The River Home. Nature and fishing and canoeing and watching the dawn. Go there with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Read, Not Memorable
Review: I read this book quickly while commuting to and from work. I've taken several canoe trips in my life, some even in canvas and wood canoes. Dennis is an insightful and amusing author, but now, several weeks later, I cannot recall a single passage or essay from this book. As I said at the outset, it makes for good commuter reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Sinking Wooden Canoe
Review: I would mostly rather paddle than read about paddling, but when I can't, I like to read someone who can make pictures appear in my head. From a Wooden Canoe is my favorite Jerry Dennis book to date (along with It's Raining Frogs and Fishes). Jerry can evoke images of past river trips, even when talking about the archane Ohio Blue Tip Match or a rusty trusty shuttle vehicle. If you like to paddle, read this book. If you want to see what it's like to be inside a paddler's head, read this book. If it's nice outside, go paddling instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Good philosophical reading for a spring evening...
Review: I would mostly rather paddle than read about paddling, but when I can't, I like to read someone who can make pictures appear in my head. From a Wooden Canoe is my favorite Jerry Dennis book to date (along with It's Raining Frogs and Fishes). Jerry can evoke images of past river trips, even when talking about the archane Ohio Blue Tip Match or a rusty trusty shuttle vehicle. If you like to paddle, read this book. If you want to see what it's like to be inside a paddler's head, read this book. If it's nice outside, go paddling instead.
Rating:
Summary: pleasant, but...
Review: It was a nice read, but kinda thin, fluff and popcorn feel; not much meat on the bones.
Rating:
Summary: An unusual feat and fine read
Review: Jerry Dennis has accomplished a most unusual feat with his "FROM A WOODEN CANOE, Reflections on Canoeing, Camping and Classic Equipment." Dennis explores and illustrates the "why-to" of doing very many things outdoors. When it comes to feeding the soul that loves the natural world, Dennis belongs in the same category of Jim Harrison or Thomas McGuane. Turn the pages of From a Wooden Canoe and you hear campfires crackle, smell the aroma of hot, black coffee and feel the wind that makes you pull up the collar of your heavy wool coat. The writing has a way of infusing the outdoor experience complete with clear blue skies or gray scudding clouds right to the heart of anyone who enjoys being outside. This collection of essays, largely expanded columns that first appeared in Canoe and Kayak Magazine is truly a fine read.
Rating:
Summary: A most unusual feat.
Review: Jerry Dennis has accomplished a most unusual feat with his "FROM A WOODEN CANOE, Reflections on Canoeing, Camping and Classic Equipment." Dennis explores and illustrates the "why-to" of doing very many things outdoors. When it comes to feeding the soul that loves the natural world, Dennis belongs in the same category of Jim Harrison or Thomas McGuane. Turn the pages of From a Wooden Canoe and you hear campfires crackle, smell the aroma of hot, black coffee and feel the wind that makes you pull up the collar of your heavy wool coat. The writing has a way of infusing the outdoor experience complete with clear blue skies or gray scudding clouds right to the heart of anyone who enjoys being outside. This collection of essays, largely expanded columns that first appeared in Canoe and Kayak Magazine is truly a fine read.
Rating:
Summary: Reflections on the water
Review: More of a gentle cruise than a furious whitewater paddle, "From a Wooden Canoe" is easily dismissed as superficial and irrelevant to modern times. Taking more than a casual glance, however, is worth the effort. Mr Dennis can write and, when he is tackling a subject dear to his heart, he achieves an apparently effortless grace. The topics here vary from the predictable (a woollen hunting jacket)to the eccentric (shuttle cars, for example) and cover concepts as well as items, outlining the delights of good coffee and a bright red union suit in a couple of pages of easy prose. There is little real depth of information, but it is important to consider that such is not the purpose of the book: this is a volume of memories and feelings, some explained and others merely invoked, pertaining to a life outdoors, away from the urban (and urbane, very often). It's simple, straightforward reading, perhaps best enjoyed in small sips rather than gulping swallows, much like camp coffee. The chapter illustrations by Glenn Wolff are on the whole nicely rendered and at times atmospheric, although he is clearly more accomplished when not sketching people.
In all this is an odd but worthwhile book, definitely more enjoyable to someone who has spent some time in the wilds, though.
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