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William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York. Published date: 1967. Hardcover; xiv, 271 pp; 24 cm. First edition. Illustrated with black and white photographs throughout; includes color photographic plates, portraits, and a folding map of the Sacramento Delta.
In very good condition in good dust jacket. Blue cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine show light edge wear and mild fading along extremities. Binding sound. Light foxing to edges of text block. Endpapers clean with light fading along edges. Interior pages clean and unmarked. Dust jacket has a few small nicks and light creasing along edges, with light overall scuffing, toning, and soiling. NOT price clipped. Now in an archival quality (removable) Brodart cover. A travel narrative by Erle Stanley Gardner recounting his repeated cruising voyages through the Sacramento Delta aboard houseboats, combining boating, fishing, local history, and character sketches of Delta residents. From the jacket flaps: The Sacramento Delta of California has a thousand miles of inland waterways perfect for boating, water skiing, fishing and swimming. Every chance he gets, Erle Stanley Gardner heads for this wonderful world of water and its beneficent gift of leisure spiced with adventure. His fleet of boats includes two houseboats which serve as comfortable floating homes for his staff and numerous guests and which frequently churn the sloughs and lagoons as Gardner sets out for the best fishing grounds, or a place to camp, or simply to call on the many friends he has made along their shores. A colorful raconteur, Mr. Gardner relates some of his earlier experiences with ships and the sea which serve to point up his high regard for the more gentle waterways of the Delta. He also tells about some of the early history of the area when river boats were the means of commerce between San Francisco, Stockton and Sacramento. Readers will share the author's enthusiasm for this interesting part of the country which offers the challenge of the unexpected as well as the ease of halcyon days spent cruising its infinite variety of waterways. Contents include: Acknowledgment; Mixed Inheritance; What is Seasickness?; The Delta Country; A Typical Cruise; Of Tender Steaks and Sharp Knives; Interesting Delta Dwellers; Unusual Animals Live in the Delta; Whoopee; Back to Snodgrass Slough; Policing the Waterways; Salty Characters; People, Dogs and Strays; Dance Hall Girls and Bandits; New Adventures and Old Friends; Indian Summer Days; Until We Meet Again.